Danganronpa: The Hopeful Lies We Tell
by Prince PokePersona
Summary: Hope is a lie we love to trick ourselves into believing. Just because people expect the best from us, doesn't mean we will always succeed. We are the hapless tools used to propel our society into glory, but is it really worth it in the end? Is it really worth starting over? Or is it all a pipe dream gone horribly wrong? I'll have to put that to the test. (SYOC Closed)
1. A Hopeless Intro

**Editor: Crimson Spider Lily**

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**Disclaimer**: This chapter contains controversial subject material that pertains to real life issues, if you are uncomfortable or sensitive to any of these topics, please refrain from reading this chapter or skipping the** BREAKING NEWS** section to the highlighted **STAY TUNED** mark. Thank you and I hope you enjoy the chapter.

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*_Recording_*

To say that this story would be a nice, happy, rainbows, sunshine and kittens type of deal would probably be the biggest lie I think I've ever told anyone in my entire life. I'm going to be honest with you all, my recollection of these events is such a clusterfuck that I've spent more hours chugging cans of iced coffee than I was actually sleeping and doing something productive with my time.

A PR nightmare from hell as it was dubbed, not just for the faculty and the headmaster, as Hope's Peak's reputation had capsized drastically ever since numerous leaks had come out, exposing the school for it's shady and underhanded methods pertaining to its success. No one knows exactly who blew the whistle or how these pieces of information got out, but one thing was for certain; that school was not the pristine, holier-than-thou and prestigious place that many had previously painted it to be.

The tabloids, newspapers and online websites were all littered with stories about many different scandals pertaining to Hope's Peak Academy. Long story short, it was an entire shitshow. Won't believe it? Here are some sample headlines from just this week alone.

**BREAKING NEWS!**

"Wealthy business magnate and investor, Katsuyoshi Oyama, solicits sexual favors from 12 underage girls, both talent and reserve courses alike!"

"Is getting an A really all it's cracked up to be?! Many students caught fudging grades and multiple teachers singled out for accepting bribes from parents!"

"English professor, Satsuki Sano, caught with her hands down a male student's pants! Boys beware, the cougars are out to play!"

"Foreign students from America, Africa, Europe and other Asian countries face mass discrimination from their Japanese peers. Racist slurs and xenophobic attacks hurled left right and center."

"Indonesian exchange student's hijab forcefully removed from her person by another female student! Alleged terrorist scare as students are too frightened to come to school!"

"Former HP student and Ultimate Linguist, Giichi Toda, commits suicide after intense bullying and online harassment! Death threats carved into his desk and creepy letters with dead animals found inside his school shoe locker."

"Reserve Course schoolgirl feels unsafe after stalker gropes her chest, is security lacking at HP?"

"School property defaced, graffiti lines the walls of each classroom hallway. Vandals and taggers on the rise or an art student gone insane?"

"Former reserve course student, Haruki Ujihara, pulls a gun on his former bullies, leaves 2 dead and 3 severely injured! Are mandatory body checks and metal detectors in order?"

"Chemistry professor Botan Kojima, loved by all, caught as the ringleader of a huge drug operation! Used HP students as mules to peddle drugs to other struggling students!"

"LGBTQ+ advocates demand better protection for their queer students! Homophobia and transphobia spirals after a transgender reserve course student faces intense harassment!"

"HP student and successor to the Ultimate Boxer title, Miyoko Hamada, beats reserve student close to death! Victim's family is suing the school for staff incompetence!"

"Protestors rally! Demands the school answer their cries for reparations or for the school's shutdown!"

**MORE ON THESE LATER, STAY TUNED!**

It was all the same drivel in the end. Everyone knew Hope's Peak was too good to be true and these scandals sent everyone into hysteria. A once esteemed and glorified educational facility, a school priding itself off the backs of it's ultimate students and reaping the rewards for their hard work and dedication, all crushed under the weight of these allegations.

Ultimates are supposed to be the prodigies of the future, the new generation that will bring Japan glory during a revolutionary age of prosperity and advancement. Who knew it was littered with so much trouble? It's a wonder it hasn't been hit by a giant wrecking ball yet. Protestors rally and the staff defended themselves from a slew of hate and bad press, all because some narcissist wanted to exaggerate a story to get a higher paycheck and more views on their articles.

What a load of bullshit.

I was never one to dabble in rumors, in fact it's my job to actually suss out the lies and seek out the truth, in this vast sea of discord and chaos. My name is Arihime Miyagawa and I'm considered the Ultimate Journalist, or I guess I was until Hope's Peak's reputation went down the gutter and parents were demanding refunds for all the tuition they were paying towards the school.

However, I wouldn't say the rumors themselves held no weight to their words; in fact, I was just as curious about if those supposed rumors were actually accurate or not. Although my personal bias would say otherwise. If you asked me, I knew that school was going to cause even more trouble than I had originally thought. What started off with good intentions turned into a disaster as privilege, egotism and fame seeped into the staff and students heads, corrupting them with more power than they could handle. I didn't expect it to devolve into such divisive scandals, but it did pique my interest to some extent.

Ever since the leaks came out, the academy was desperate to salvage what little faith they had left in the public's eye. Many investors pulled out of the school after hearing those atrocious allegations while many parents refused to send their kids to school after a new story was published almost by the minute and some students feared for their lives, either as a helpless victim or one of the people probably next on the inside mole's chopping block.

Before you ask me, no, I'm not the mole investigating these rumors; some asshole beat me to it first. I was in fact going to research more into the school, due to some insider information claiming these rumors were baseless slander and libel, however all of it seemed too convenient and too fake to be published and I don't like to relish in gossip.

As a journalist, I pride myself on facts and evidence. I don't cave into societal pressure or seek validation in the form of clicks and retweets from mindless drones who don't have an opinion or spine of their own and just parrot my words.

Even if the assignments are slim pickings, I always manage to make due with little, even if other, seedier journalists prefer working with little and overexaggerating them to innumerable proportions. I was championed as the Ultimate Journalist after publishing an article regarding a string of corrupt businessmen and businesswomen treating their employees terribly and paying them wages so grossly low that minimum wage workers looked like trust fund babies in comparison.

After applying for all the jobs, my information was heralded as trustworthy and reliable, something which modern journalism lacks nowadays, but you didn't hear that from me. I'm not going to sit here and pretend that I'm the best, however that story exposed many secrets and backdoor dealings which could have affected many lives and I saw it as only fitting to cut the loose ends before it spiralled into mass chaos and anarchy.

Enough about me, back to the story I was about to actually regale you all with.

It had been a few years after the Tragedy. I forgot how long it's been, but after Hope's Peak was rebuilt, the school tried its damndest to regain some semblance of normalcy after the former ultimate fashionista fucked everyone over because of her hedonistic and nihilistic goals. It would have been a fun story to cover, had she not died and without the survivors refusing to divulge anymore info on how they survived their killing game with the famed Junko Enoshima.

Those same survivors helped to rebuild the academy with the help of the Future Foundation and everything seemed peachy keen and dandy. New Ultimates poured in to claim their respective titles, new investors profited from the school's bountiful success and the staff and new Headmaster couldn't be more ecstatic to continue the school's goal of fostering a new age of talent. So, what went wrong?

After the rumors and leaks broke out, the headmaster called every investor they partnered with, every law enforcement officer in the area and all their connections to help mediate and negotiate the crisis and quash it as soon as possible. Let me tell you, the media coverage for those events was insane and I almost felt bad for the school, even if my better judgement taught me otherwise.

Reporters lined the gates of the academy almost everyday, some even camping out near the gates to get exclusive interviews with the janitors, if possible. The headmaster now used a helicopter to arrive to school as his car windows were smashed and his personal property vandalized by many angry protesters. Let me tell you, the death threats were extremely intense and very poetic for an angry mob. It seemed that Ultimates were leaving faster than the dinosaurs became extinct as parents pulled their children out of the academy or students dropped out, mostly out of fear of associating with Hope's Peak upon hearing the rumors.

Many assumed that it would have been the end for the Ultimate students and the brand name affluence it carried with it. Japan's golden goose was running dry and it seemed like all was lost.

That was until something unexpected happened, something that shook the foundation of Hope's Peak to its core and threatened to dismantle the social hierarchy it imposed on the people, the students and its entire faculty.

A rival academy. Oh my, how shocking, this world is just full of surprises.

Crown Crest Academy, a new campus that blindsided not just its rival, but also reserve course and ultimate students alike. No one knew how it came about; all they knew was that it just appeared out of thin air, almost like magic, if you will.

If journalists weren't hovering over Hope's Peak like wild vultures seeking their next dead carcass to eat, given the massive amount of scandals hiding within the brick walls of the school, it was mostly affixed on this new rival school.

Crown Crest Academy propositioned itself as a better and safer alternative for ultimate and reserve course students alike, almost like a copycat in the making. Having started from the ground up as a former charter school, the very eccentric headmaster, Junya Watase, had shown up out of nowhere. Many hailed him as an angel, as if he were blessing the shepherds with a miracle and offering his services to former ultimate students of Hope's Peak Academy.

Watase's new school was the new safe haven for former HP students, marketed as being the next best thing to Hope's Peak. It looked more advertiser friendly compared to their notorious rival and Watase himself had even shown many of his school's amenities and facilities to the public via a live television press conference.

Unlike Hope's Peak, the Crown Crest headmaster invited and welcomed many students seeking refuge to come to his school, offering them various rewards, benefits and accommodations so enticing and luxurious that it made Hope's Peak look like a third world country in comparison.

Students were offered the best dorms imaginable with king sized beds, large closets, deluxe private baths and even their own special talent labs to help hone their skills. Each dorm hall had it's very own resident assistant, also known as an RA, and each room had a personal servant specially allocated to suit the needs of each student, both butlers and maids. The facilities seemed endless from outdoor and indoor sports fields and courts, a giant pool area, an inhouse restaurant that served all you could eat breakfast, lunch and dinner menus, the world's largest library that had almost every book you could find, separated common areas for guys and girls, plenty of club activities and part time volunteer work to help students boost their resumes and even a large garden area that was garnished with colorful flowers and clean cut topiary.

To seal the deal on how unique this new academy was, instead of Ultimates, talented students were referred to as Crown talents, or more specifically as Watase put it so candidly in his own words during his live speech:

"Our students are the precious jewels that make up the shining crown that is our esteemed academy! We treat everyone equally and with the utmost respect! A very inclusive and diverse landscape full of potential and passion!"

His words were very captivating and compared to its competition, it was the perfect surrogate at the time. As of this recording, that school has been active for about three months and there hasn't been a shred of scandal whatsoever that has crept out of its ivory tower aesthetic.

Hope's Peak and Crown Crest were constantly at each other's throats, offering talented and reserve course students alike more opportunities and benefits than they could ever afford in two lifetimes. Both academies outdid the other in almost every way shape or form, with headmasters Watase and Naegi both one-upping each other to see who could gain the most students, in order to boost their school's reputation and elite status.

If you asked me, the entire debacle was just one giant dick measuring contest disguising itself as something more professional and sophisticated than it claimed to be. I knew both schools were too humble to admit it, but I knew the truth behind their intentions.

However my target wasn't Hope's Peak, in fact it was Crown Crest Academy.

For years, Hope's Peak had been the king of the castle, enjoying the lavish success and fame that would make any first rate university jealous, just for all of it to crumble after a few days of malicious character assassination and allegations, only for this new academy to pop up out of the blue and steal away it's prestige? It made no sense whatsoever and didn't click in my head.

My inner journalist refused to believe that this new academy was the squeaky clean place it was advertised as and that there was nothing wrong with it from the get-go. As much as I dislike Hope's Peak and setting my own personal feelings aside for the moment, this new school irritated me for the sole fact that it just randomly acquired all this glory in just a few months and just so conveniently appeared when Hope's Peak was crippled and bleeding students at a breakneck pace.

I don't want to sit here and pretend that I'm going into this blind or without preconceived prejudice, but I had to investigate Crown Crest Academy and interview Junya Watase to set the record straight. They say seeing is believing and in this digital age, anything can be butchered or visually appealing if you put enough elbow grease into it or know how to photoshop.

I wanted to know how he gained such wealth in the first place to create this new shining school, who he really was and what his intentions were. But most importantly, I wanted to know if he had any meddling with the scandals and if he was the sole culprit for Hope's Peak's downfall as many other journalists and critics have suggested.

It could be a gut instinct, but something smells fishy and I didn't believe that things like that just happen out of coincidence or happenstance. In order to test my hypothesis, I signed myself up to become a Crown student at that new school, under the guise of the Crown Journalist seeking aid during the chaos that was the Hope's Peak crisis.

I don't trust Ultimates as far as I can throw them, nor did the idea of becoming a Crown talent seem any more appealing to me, but I had to forfeit my sanity for the sake of the job. Ultimates have become the centerpoint of major talking points throughout the years. From politicians, lawmakers and international companies, they were quickly becoming a household name and I had a feeling that this new school wanted that same influence and power.

In this politically and socially charged culture we live in today, everything has its contention and there is no such thing as a non-polarizing topic in my eyes. While there were some theorists that doubted the credentials of Crown Crest and while some parents were skeptical of sending their prized children off to another affluent school only to risk another scandal, what other options are there?

Many former students refused regular schools and felt that homeschooling was limiting their creativity and potential and with the increase in foreigners and tourists coming into Japan, it seemed that this would be the opportune time to cash in on the glory, which meant dismantling the monopoly of Hope's Peak and creating a brand new society of Crown Jewels, as the students were labelled.

Whether or not the rumors were true, I had to find out why this was all happening. That and the fact that my boss pressured me into taking this assignment, as he considered me his best journalist. I only solved one case as a freelance worker and all of a sudden I'm the vied candidate for the next journalist title, even Hope's Peak and Crown Crest were on the ball about it as well.

Whatever one academy offered, the other doubled or sometimes tripled in unison. They both showered me with incentives and even sent complimentary gift baskets, E-cards filled with money and even went as far as to send delegates to my door to give me these beautifully hand typed letters or already having the nerve to have made a customized student ID for me as well. While the requests read very formally, I could sense the desperation from both of the headmasters and it was rather pathetic and almost petty in the grand scheme of things.

However I decided to accept Crown Crest's offer, due to the sole fact it would help me better understand the inner workings of that new facility as a whole. Since I already had enough dirt on Hope's Peak to work with thanks to some friends on the inside, it would give me the leverage I needed to judge both schools impartially. I had planned to write a long article explaining my unbiased opinion of both academies to determine if one was better than the other, but my real goal was to expose the corrupt nature of Ultimates and Crown Jewels as a whole.

I hated the idea that there were select people championed as better than the rest and the concept alone made me gag reiterating it aloud. Even if they worked hard for their title, it still felt sickly elitist and scummy to say that a select person was much more important than the rest.

I hated the idea of people diminishing others accomplishments just because they aren't as good as that one high schooler who hasn't experienced any real world problems whatsoever. It felt as though the titles themselves were mocking people in their respective fields and only created even more cutthroat competition than ever before.

Japan was notorious for being one of the few countries to have the highest grade percentages in the world as well as student college acceptances and high work force turnouts. The Ultimates system only made that social hierarchy ten times more important than it already was and I disliked it all the same.

I liked to view people as equals, despite their laurels. If you were a shitty person to me or anyone else, but had the label of Ultimate or Crown talent under your belt and thought you were better than the rest, then you were just as terrible, if not worse than the people you claimed to pity. It gave people an ego they didn't deserve and created even more smug bastards and arrogant assholes that the world could use less of. I'm only doing this to prove a point and not here to rub elbows with a bunch of spoiled pricks who could care less about me in the long run.

I didn't want to end up like them, not even in a million years. I would never live with myself if I viewed myself as better than other people just because I had a fancy title I could tote around like a badge of honor. It would go against my morals and I've seen too many of my former acquaintances fall for that trick time and time again.

I can't ever be like them….I just can't…...I needed to write this story.

But enough exposition, I have to go for now, I need to prepare for when the limo comes to pick me up. Wish me luck, whoever finds this voice recording.

*_CLICK_*

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**A/N**: Hello everyone, hope you're all well and welcome to the reboot of Hope's Lie now officially dubbed The Hopeful Lies We Tell or Hopeful Lies for short.

What do you guys think of this intro chapter? I know it's a lot shorter than my other ones, but I wanted to keep it simple and informative, one that got the information across succinctly. I hope the opening paragraphs and headlines weren't too extreme, and if anyone felt that it was a bit over the top, I would like to apologize if it made you feel weird.

I wanted to show the realism behind these scandals and personally, I found it fitting to insert into a story that is going to delve into topics similar to these. However, I will most likely keep this story as non-controversial as possible, so don't worry about that y'all.

Did you guys like this new version of Arihime? I know it's been a while since I've written dialogue for her, but I hope you found her inner monologue interesting and reminiscent to the old Ari. I decided to give her a new last name as the last one didn't flow properly and I personally like this better, so I hope you all like it as well.

You all know the drill with SYOC by now, but for those just tuning into my story and have no idea what this reboot is about, I would refer you to my already discontinued story since there is a chapter that goes a bit more into detail as to why I discontinued the last one. Enough about that, here is a brand new form for this story and if you notice some new details, please read it carefully.

To the people who have sent me OC in the past that were in the original cast, please resubmit your OC under this new form, since a lot has changed and I would prefer to write your OC to the fullest potential. So without further ado, here is the new SYOC form and the rules as per usual.

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**RULES FOR OC'S FOR THE HOPEFUL LIES WE TELL!**

**1**) No Mary Sues or Gary Stus, nobody is flawless and having perfect characters really doesn't resonate well with people, I'm looking at you Chiaki, even though I love her to death.

**2**) No canon talents and be original with them, and yes V3 talents don't count either something fresh would be more welcome. (Plus Talents from Salty Waves and Bloody Coral, Laughable Rejects & Remnants of My Heart will not be accepted either). I want to test everyone to see if your minds are as creative as I think they are.

*However I will allow a variation of a talent for example Detective, either a Police Officer or Private Investigator.

**3**) This story's theme is my own original take called Acceptance vs. Prejudice. (Not sure how it'll work, bear with me guys.)

**4**) Anything in parentheses you can delete to make the submission form easier to understand and for me to read.

**5**) You can send in a max of three characters, anymore would be too much and frustrating to keep track of.

**6**) Due to my current situation and state of mind, these chapters will be sporadic at worst, so don't expect a new chapter every minute or so. I prioritize quality rather than quantity, I hope you understand.

**7)** No RECYCLED OC, this is a must since my stories are all in the same universe. It doesn't make sense to have the same talents in different stories, unless you can give me a good reason for said talent, or if the OC was rejected or the story was discontinued.

**8**) PM's only, review OC's would be rejected as everyone can see them and it ruins the fun for everyone involved.

**9)** Please space out each requirement on the form, I wear glasses and having to read congested words on a form is one of my pet peeves.

**10)** Since this is Danganronpa, I'm willing to write certain gritty or darker related scenes, since this story delves into how the students have faced many hardships and discrimination from Hope's Peak. However please be mindful of what the subject matter is, I will not write anything related to graphic depictions of sexual assault/r**e, child p*rn, or anything that is considered overly taboo. If you do wish to tackle certain dark topics, please word it carefully in their backstory and do your research beforehand.

**11)** Please Title the Form: Hopeful Lies SYOC - "Insert Character Name"

**Finally these are the standards for character submissions**:

Name (First name then last name):

Nickname (optional):

Age (15-22):

Birthday:

Height:

Weight:

Gender (the farthest I will go is non-binary, but that's it):

Sexuality (I'm open to LGBTQ characters so go wild):

Nationality:

Race:

Crown Talent:

Why did they choose this academy over Hope's Peak? (Various Reasons):

If they were a former student at Hope's Peak, please state why they requested a transfer:

Personality (be detailed, I love paragraphs):

Appearance (make them detailed but not like five paragraphs, general physical traits like hair, skin, build etc.):

Special Features (Tattoos, scars, piercings stuff like that):

Mannerisms/Quirks:

Strengths (Both Mental and Physical):

Weaknesses (Same with Strengths):

Mental Health Issues (optional):

Clothing (you can have them be shirtless but not fully nude):

Swimwear:

Sleepwear:

Formal attire:

Accessories:

Backstory (Not everyone is going to have a happy childhood, but don't go overboard with something dark okay, and make it long I love paragraphs):

Romance, if at all? (I love romance but will try my best if I get good matches):

Likes (five please):

Dislikes (same as likes):

Hobbies:

Free Time Event Ideas:

Victim/Killer/Survivor (no guarantees, this is just so you can convince me to kill them or keep them ticking and alive):

Justification for each one:

Mastermind (do you want them to be a mastermind?):

Motive/s for murder:

Execution style (give me what Monokuma would do for their execution, bonus points if it relates to their talent):

Reaction to a body (innocent):

Reaction to a body (guilty):

Investigation role (I don't want twenty kyoko's or chiaki's, diversify who does what)

Innocent:

Guilty:

Trial Roles (are they talkative, quiet, commentators, jokers, aggressors or sheep)

Innocent:

Guilty:

Reaction to classmate executed:

Reaction to being accused (Innocent):

Reaction to being accused (Guilty):

Reaction to being caught:

How would they lie (are they good at it, quiver and break down or don't care if they deceived someone):

How would they express the truth:

Darkest Fear:

Darkest Secret:

People they'd befriend:

People they'd despise:

People they'd crush on:

Important people in their life:

How would they react to being in a Killing Game?:

How would they react to being tricked by this revelation?:

Dialogue (to help me understand your character better):

Japanese Voice Actor (optional):

English Voice Actor (optional):

Other (basically anything else you'd want me to add):

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For the people who need a reference as to what the old talents were, here is the old list of talents that were used previously in my original story. I hope it helps and the official cast roster is down below for those curious as to how many I will be accepting. Feel free to use any of these older talents, since the story is discontinued.

**HOPE'S LIE (OLD TALENT CAST)** \- Journalist, Jazz Musician, Hypnotist, Karuta Queen, Massage Therapist, Soccer Player, Kayaker, Carpenter, Robotics Expert, Fitness Model, Pharmacist, Delivery Person, Comedian, Figure Skater, Underground Fighter, DJ, Beast Tamer, Warden, Evolutionary Biologist, ?(William's Talent)

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**SUBMISSIONS**:

Male x30  
Female x32  
Non-Binary x2

x1 Geneticist  
x1 Reporter  
x1 Calligrapher  
x2 Florist  
x1 Pharmacist  
x1 Police Officer  
x1 Visual Artist  
x1 MOBA Player  
x1 Mamasan  
x1 Cellist  
x1 Body Painter  
x1 Mathematician  
x1 Curator  
x1 Intelligent Prodigy  
x1 Fire Investigator  
x1 Assistive Technology Trainer  
x1 Spirit Channeler  
x1 Chess Player  
x1 Arachnologist  
x1 Classical Violinist  
x1 Monochrome Painter  
x1 Violinist  
x1 Fitness Model  
X1 Director  
x1 Rock Singer  
x1 Human Ecologist  
x1 Jeweler  
x1 Cooper  
x1 Thespian  
x1 Roboticist  
x1 Press Agent  
x1 Head of State  
x1 Philosopher  
x1 Zipliner  
x1 Delivery Boy  
x1 Veterinary Surgeon  
x1 Consultant  
x1 Nail Artist  
x1 Tepanyakki Chef  
x1 Composer  
x1 Amezaiku Artist  
x1 Bartitsu Master  
x1 Influencer  
x1 Acquisitions Expert  
x1 Belly Dancer  
x1 Soccer Player  
x1 Sprinter  
x1 Bass Guitarist  
x1 Model  
x1 Egyptologist  
x1 Dancer  
x1 Event Planner  
x1 Traditionalist  
X1 Rockstar  
x1 Experimentalist  
x1 Bartender  
x1 Transhumanist  
x1 Personal Stylist  
x1 LEGO Master Builder  
x1 Background Dancer  
x1 Music Producer  
x1 Bibliophile  
x1 Mythologist

**CAST ROSTER**

**Males**:

Takeshi Kagohara - Crown Police Officer (Dogtimus)

Daizo Hirai - Crown Arachnologist (Orlando Butler)

Arata Toshikawa - Crown Body Painter (ChaoticMercy)

Akihiro Nobuo - Crown Consultant (WhiteReaper4)

Anastasiy Vasiliev - Crown Zipliner (RioA)

Otahiko Seijun - Crown Philosopher (mandipokemon)

Harlan Otieno - Crown Cooper (TheRoseShadow21)

Ginrou Migato - Crown Transhumanist (Shyjoker)

Tristan McGrath - Crown Thespian (Richard Conway)

Cameron Eastwood - Crown Model (Master Parafin)

Artorius Jones - Crown Bartitsu Master (GrandmasterCastiel)

**Females**:

Arihime Miyagawa - Crown Journalist (Me)

Carlotta Scordato - Crown Cellist (Abitat Eco)

Kuromi Shirokawa - Crown Monochrome Painter (Crimson Spider Lily)

Aoki Yasumi - Crown Jeweler (Ziggymia123)

Mie Asakura - Crown Press Agent (Scissor-Snipper)

Hina Shimizu - Crown Amezaiku Artist (CandiedStars)

Nikoletta Gabor - Crown Florist (tobi-is-an-artist-too)

Zakuro Kobayashi - Crown Personal Stylist (Lupus Overkill)

Yoshimi Papagiorgios - Crown Mythologist (Shirasaur)

Mara Tachimiya - Crown Bartender (Sharkeye)

Ibu Sugihara - Crown Background Dancer (SanityRequiem)

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And with that, that pretty much sums up the new intro chapter for this reboot. I hope you all liked it and I will see you all in the next update or whenever I decided to post next. The deadline is currently slated for **Late June 2020**.

I wish you all a good day, night, holiday or whatever it is you're celebrating and Happy New Years as well. Happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike, I will see you all next time in 2020. Bye bye!


	2. A Dreary Setting

**Editor**: Crimson Spider Lily

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"I've decided to take Crown Crest's offer to become a Crown student," I boldly stated, with all the gusto to convince myself of what I was doing.

"Is that right?" my editor, and second head honcho at the firm I work at, Sotatsu Maita, remarked with a raised eyebrow, "Heh, I thought you'd consider it a bit longer. Why am I not surprised?"

"Yes I'm definitely sure sir, I've been deliberating it for a while now," I paused briefly, choosing my next few words carefully, "And I think I'm ready for this."

"Are you sure, Arihime?" he asked, grabbing his pen to sign some documents on his desk, "I know you've been passionate about these alleged scandals since they broke out, but don't you think you have enough evidence already? I told Toshiki not to shove this on you so suddenly."

"With all due respect, Mr. Maita," I gripped my bag's handle firmly, "I just have this...gut instinct about Crown Crest." I sighed deeply. "Mr. Inoue's demands aside, I can't really make a cohesive argument about the other academy without proof or concrete evidence, it's just not something I can confidently say I know a lot about without feeling biased or scummy, sir."

He looked up from his documents, giving me the same serious but worried look he always gave before I went on a potentially dangerous assignment. Despite my reputation, I always felt like he was babying me and trying to dissuade me away from the more hot button concerns facing our society today.

Mr. Maita and Mr. Inoue were both co-founders of the journalism firm I work for and while he was the brains and paperworks man, Toshiki Inoue was the man with the money, so he usually made most of the decisions around the office. Needless to say, Maita cared for his employees a whole lot more than Inoue did, if anything. He was very overprotective of us if anything like an overbearing helicopter parent, almost as if we were his second family,.

I guess you could say I loved sticking my toe into new things and learning more about the world as a whole, but even then, he always made me feel like I was a child sometimes, handing me the same boring assignments about new store openings or interviewing professors or authors and the like, it felt very tedious after a while. I liked the jobs that took me out of my comfort zone and challenged my worldview. Even though I've proven myself capable of handling said tasks, it still felt like I was forced to use training wheels or needed some supervisor's guidance every time I was about to do something.

"Well, you are one of my top journalists…" he pondered over it, rolling up his sleeves as he normally did when making a tough decision, "If you ask me, this is just asking for trouble, but if you're dead set on this, then who am I to stop you?"

With his approval in hand, I was set to embark on what could have very well been my magnum opus report to date. It could finally mean an end to the Ultimate and Crown talents system as a whole. It could very well change the landscape of Japan and reshape its politics. This one article could shape the future. It would almost be an international headline all on its own.

"Thank you very much sir!" I almost yelled aloud, feeling a bit too proud of myself, "I promise you, this is going to be huge!"

"Hahahaha, ah you sure are a delight, Ms. Miyagawa," he chuckled amusedly, leaning back in his office chair, "Who knows, you get to lap in luxury and have all your needs met, while also fielding your research in a controlled environment."

"Killing two birds with one stone," I smiled mischievously, "Well, I have to go prepare, have a good day sir."

"Best of luck to you," his last words to me, as I headed out and closed the doors to his office, "But of course, you're not going to need it, heh."

* * *

"Ah shit…...the butterflies are back," I moaned tiredly, slumping over on my desk.

It felt like my entire life all culminated to this one event, as if it were preparing me for this exact moment like I was the chosen one in some demented power fantasy. While I did talk a big game while recording my voice memoirs earlier about exposing the corruption within those two schools, I will admit I was a bit nervous. Can you really blame me though?

Normally my assignments are a cakewalk and I can usually get through them without losing much sleep or getting gray hairs, but this one article was like the godsend of all other online articles I've written in my few years as a journalist. Not only was it going to unearth the lies peddled by both academies and expose all the elitism and hypocrisy, but my article could very well shape the entire future of Japan. Maybe even incite people to rethink their views on Ultimates and Crown talents as a whole.

It's a scary notion to think, especially in my line of work. People will do anything, and I mean literally anything, to save what little dignity they have left in the public eye. It varies from demeaning yourself, crying like a baby and begging on your knees, to slandering and throwing ad hominems at your rivals and opponents to take them down with you and my personal favorite; killing the competition and the naysayers before anyone can disprove your arguments or denounce their veracity.

Nothing in life is simply black or white and I knew fully well what I was getting into when I took this job. If I wasn't willing to stick my toe into the fire, then I might as well call myself a quack and join the looney bin of low rank journalists who think foreign songs have slurs in them and cry outrage over them like the next lame conspiracy theorist. I have too much sanity and self pride to devolve into that nonsense.

I sat there at my desk in my small studio apartment, watching the hours pass by as the clock ticked every minute. I didn't really have that many things or many personal possessions I couldn't live without. I preferred simple and manageable lifestyles and opted for a smaller place due to my low paying salary and my paranoid fears of living in a large home all by myself.

My apartment was small, but easy to move around in. The floor was polished brown wood and the walls and ceiling were painted in a nondescript white color. My computer desk was low to the floor which meant I sat down underneath a large fluffy pillow and stared at a computer screen for most of my nights. I perused my desk and noticed a few post it notes and tabs with reminders stuck to the edges of my laptop and some pens and paper littered on the sides of my desk and next to the TV drawer stand where my clothes usually were tucked away.

I didn't have a bed, but chose to rest on a cheap soft gray sofa with matching grey ottoman as a makeshift bed with red and black throw pillows and a red and white striped blanket neatly folded to the side to help spruce up my home just a little bit. The apartment had these tacky-looking abstract paintings from artists I couldn't pronounce the names of, as well as a tack board with a few pictures from previous assignments I had worked on in the past as well as notes and letters from my boss and coworkers wishing me good luck on each one.

Lastly there was a small bathroom and shower located near the front door where I usually spent most of my time conjuring up ideas and getting my next big scoops. And lastly, there was a small kitchen with a stove top and oven as well as a mini sink for me to do the dishes I rarely wash since I spend more time eating out than anything else.

"Well, no time like the present," I stretched widely, hearing a few of my arm joints crack and pop so loud the neighbors downstairs could hear it clearly, "Ugh….I really need to get out more."

After a brief self analysis of my poor health and potato like nature, I stood up and tidied up my notes for the upcoming task ahead of me. I knew that if I was going to act the part of the self-entitled and pretentious Crown talent, I needed to actually clean myself up and take pride in my appearance for once and not look like a total fucking slob who just rolled out of bed.

I walked to the bathroom, opened the door, turning on the unusually bright lights and began cleaning myself up before the limo was expected to arrive. I took my shower and exited, wiping myself with a black towel I had forgotten to wash and tossed it on the side next to my sofa. I pondered what to wear for a few minutes before checking the clock once more and taking note of the time.

"8:47 AM!" it read as clear as day, "Oh shit, I need to get ready fast! Fuck me…."

I hurried to grab my things, slapping on my usual outfit consisting of a dark red long-sleeved cashmere sweater, dark brown blazer jacket with black buttons left unbuttoned, a dark grey knee length pleated accordion skirt with black lines running down the design's pattern with plain black mary jane flats and sheer black stockings on my feet.

For accessories, I kept it just as simple as my taste in clothing: cheap and affordable. I wore a plain brown wrist watch on my left wrist, a pearl bracelet I bought at a thrift store nearby with a silver heart charm attached around my right wrist, a simple silver necklace around my neck with a small diamond pendant that I got a few birthdays ago and for the final touch, my signature black square-framed glasses I always wore to complete the look.

I then peered at the clock once more.

"8:54!? What the heck?" I tilted my head annoyedly, fussing with my long messy maroon hair in the mirror next to my desk, "Ah fuck it, who even has time for a hairbrush anyway."

I scrambled around my messy apartment for my light brown messenger bag and after a few minutes of aimless searching, I found it resting underneath one of the throw pillows I had haphazardly tossed to the side on the floor, probably from one of my sleepless nights.

"Thank goodness…" I sighed with relief, "So glad I packed it the night before, just need to get my laptop, phone and chargers."

I swiftly grabbed said items from my work desk and double checked my inventory, two notebooks, an almost absurd amount of pencils and pens, two folders to help organize my files as well as a few manila folders, some granola bars I bought at the nearby convenience store I took from the cupboard above the kitchen sink and finally my aforementioned laptop and chargers.

"Ding dong!" a loud buzzer rang throughout my apartment, "Ms. Miyagawa?" a male voice called out to me.

"Wait just a minute! Just grabbing a few last minute things," I hollered out, completely flustered and scrambling as fast as I could, as I stood near the front door, steeling my nerves took a few deep breaths.

Even though it was just answering the door, I was a bit anxious and I felt the energy surging through my body like a pure rush of adrenaline. I honestly didn't know what to expect, but the thought of arriving in a limo to the academy felt a tad overdone considering how well off the academy presented itself on the live video. Normally I'd go for a taxi, but since they were offering to pay for some of my expenses, why look a gift horse in the mouth?

I opened my front door, looking back at my small apartment once more, before bading it goodbye for now. So many memories lived here, even if they were brief, I had fun but I was ready to move on to greener pastures for a change.

As the morning light shone through, I came face to face with a tall man, presumably my limo driver here to pick me up. I was honestly blindsided by how lavish the gifts sent by Crown Crest were, but I never expected the limo drivers to also follow suit, because goddamn, this man was extremely attractive.

He was dressed head to toe in a normal driver's outfit consisting of a black suit, white dress shirt, black tie and pants with polished black dress shoes, but his looks stood out the most to me. He was fair skinned with very chiseled facial features and a clean shaven face, his dark brown eyes looked as if they were going to pierce through my soul and his short dark brown hair was neatly trimmed with a black driver's cap resting neatly atop his head. It was hard to tell if he was my age or a bit older, but I noticed some wrinkle lines on his forehead so he probably was in late twenties or something.

"Are you Miss Arihime Miyagawa?" he asked very formally, his brown eyes glistening in my direction.

"Y-Yes, that would be me," I awkwardly laughed, trying to start off with a light quip, "At least I'm pretty sure, hehehe…"

"Hah, very well, please follow me miss," he smiled, baring his pearly white smile and motioned his hand out as I exited my apartment, "The limo is just downstairs."

I closed the door behind me, locked it using the spare key given to me by my landlord and headed out with the limo driver to his car. We walked along the stretch of doors that lined the apartment building and walked down the steps to the main office where the front entrance was. I felt like a movie star going incognito almost, this felt way too casual for something as momentous as this. After all the badgering and bribes, I never expected the academy to be so lax and upfront as to send the driver straight to my door.

"Would you like for me to check you out personally, Ms. Miyagawa?" he asked as we made our way to the bottom level.

"Oh, no thank you, but I appreciate the offer," I waved off his generosity with a head shake and rifled through my bag for the spare keys, "You can go ahead and meet us out front, sir."

"Of course miss," he nodded his head, heading out through the glass doors.

Well, they say first impressions always set the tone for the rest of your day, but this is just too excessive. I guess I'm not used to this kind of treatment, if anything it made me feel icky inside and somewhat like those snobby elitists I critiqued heavily in the past. I knew it was his job, but maybe I'm just dumb and overthinking it as usual. Then again, overthinking is usually what led to hesitation and I couldn't have that mindset when I got to the school. One wrong move could blow my cover and all my hard work would have been kaput.

I then headed to the front desk and saw a slim man with shaggy black hair and baggy black eyes wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a slim white vest behind the counter smoking a cigarette and reading his tablet, probably ogling it for more updates on the Hope's Peak scandals.

"Hey Masaki," I called out to him, "My ride's here, just dropping off my keys."

"Oh shit, that's today?" he turned his attention to me, almost surprised, "I must have been real hungover to have forgotten that." He rubbed his eyes and groaned.

"When are you not?" I snorted, shaking my head at his antics, "Remember to tell the cleaning lady not to mess with my work desk alright?"

"Aight, I gotcha," he saluted, rubbing his cigarette on the ashtray next to him to oust it, "However, I make no promises if she or some burglar ends up stealing something of value without my knowledge."

"Pfft! Please, I don't have anything worth my salt in there," I chuckled at his wry joke, "I think the thieves would feel sorry for me if anything, given how easy the job would be just to get inside alone."

"Shut up, it's not my fault my manager can't pay for proper security around here, Ari," he rolled his eyes, "Oh well, have fun with those spoiled brats." He took the key from the desk.

"Oh trust me, when I'm done with this article," I boasted a bit, winking at him, "They won't see it coming. I'll be the hairs hiding underneath their noses!"

"How long did it take ya to come up with that analogy?" he smirked.

"You know what-" before I could retort, the glass doors opened and the limo driver appeared.

"Ms. Miyagawa, I'm ready when you are," he said, smiling as he nodded to Masaki.

"Wow, you're practically royalty now, heh," clicked his tongue, somewhat amused by what he just witnessed.

"Ugh, whatever," I groaned, cringing at his cheesy comment, "Just make sure Ms. Edamura's cat doesn't sneak into my apartment again, I can't handle coming back to cat shit and dead rat bones again."

"Aye aye mistress," he joked, "See ya later."

With all my affairs in order, I left the safety of my apartment building and greeted the bright morning with a grumpy smile. I covered my eyes as I felt the warm breeze kiss my skin and the sounds of people walking and talking filled the air with hustle and bustle. Just another typical morning in Tokyo.

"After you, miss," the driver caught my attention, as I saw him opening up the shiny black door of the limo.

"Thank you," I walked over and sat inside, feeling my body press against the soft leather blackseat.

He closed the door behind me and a light flickered on, revealing the interior design of the limo. The seats were soft to the touch and had the same quality comfort of any queen sized mattress, with the floors carpeted a royal red shade and the ceiling donning a darker hue with a skylight.

There was a mini bar with individual glasses so transparent you could see the shine and a small mini fridge that had a few selection of beverages from water, juice, soda and even alcohol, surprisingly enough, as well as a shelf stacked with all sorts of snacks from potato chips, assorted nuts, chocolate candies and fruit bars. There was a rather large TV screen embedded into the wall of the limo with a silver TV remote and a channel guide resting inside a cup holder, alongside mini speakers that were upholstered into the sides of the walls. The windows were tinted slightly so the morning glare didn't shine through and the A/C insulation was just the right temperature, not too cold but just cold enough for me not to bunch up using the small throw pillows next to either side of where I sat.

"Wow…..they really decked out this ride huh," I was in awe, my mouth somewhat agape seeing how excessively first class it looked, "Gosh the school must be heaven, if this is just casual transport."

As I familiarized myself with the interior, a small window behind me opened up, revealing the driver in the front seat. He looked almost pleased with my reaction, as if he knew that's how I'd react beforehand as if he were some psychic mind reader.

"Are you cozy miss?" he asked, leaning his arm against his seat, "I have some warm blankets if you feel chilly and if you have any song requests, feel free to utilize the tablet next to you."

"Tablet?" I looked around my surroundings, seeing it sitting to my right side as I picked it up, analyzing it from top to bottom, "Smooth surface, simple user interface and the school insignia etched on the back, talk about fancy schmancy."

"While you get comfortable there, the drive will be about an hour and a half," he remarked matter of factly, "So please help yourself to any refreshments in the minibar."

"Thanks, I guess…" I fiddled with the tablet, somewhat dazed by how overwhelming this all was.

He rolled up the window, turned on the engine and began driving off. I began swiping through the music app on the pad and selected an instrumental alternative rock song, setting it aside as I began raiding the snack shelf and indulging myself in the drink bar. I sampled a large bag of plain potato chips, munched on a few chocolates and drank some grape juice as I turned on the TV and clicked on multiple channels.

I thought I had been given the ultimate treatment, but the fun didn't stop there, apparently the streaming service Cineflicks, featured the new episodes of shows I'd been religiously following every other week such as 'Weirder Stuff', 'Lakeside', 'Dark Reflection' and even my favorite parody rom com, 'Bitch Babes'. It baffled me how powerful this academy was that it even had the power to get exclusive episodes from shows that early when the public haven't even finished the last few episodes.

"Another reason to despise this academy…." I nibbled on another chip, "This feels too good to be true."

While it was a bit nitpicky of me, the fact that Crown talents had access to all this exclusive stuff just infuriated me even more. I knew the academies were borderline desperate to get new students and grow their numbers, but it was just plain ridiculous. All these gifts, all these sponsorships, all these incentives, all this massive praise, all this scandal and corruption.

How far are these schools willing to go just to get what they want? That is the million dollar question right there.

I pulled out a small notebook from my bag alongside a black ink pen and began writing down my initial thoughts on the drive as a whole.

"Nice gestures….snack incentives...surround sound stereo….early airings of TV episodes," I continued jotting down more details about the ride as if I were writing a three page essay, "What's next a fucking unicorn shooting out rainbow lasers from its eyes?"

I tried writing down my initial thoughts of what living inside a glorified school would be like. Would I have a roommate? Would others accept me as one despite my low income status? Will I get the same ostracization from my peers and classmates? Is this new academy hiding their own scandals that the public hasn't been made aware of? Who thought two schools of these caliber competing against each other was a good idea? Who the fuck runs the education division in the government and why haven't they stepped in yet?

All these questions kept piling up inside my head, like a warzone of thoughts and the questions are the bodies of the casualties. I pondered on these questions for what seemed like a few minutes, but my introspection was cut short by the limo's sudden stop.

"We've arrived Miss Miyagawa," the limo driver rolled down the window once more, "Are you alright, you seem to have been quite famished."

"Huh? O-Oh right!" I woke up from the slight food induced daze I was in and hid the leftover remnants of my mini feast away on the minibar, "I guess so….I didn't have time to eat breakfast this morning."

He seemed to ignore that last comment and exited the driver's seat and headed out his vehicle. I took a few minutes to briefly recollect myself, clean up my clothes from the food crumbs scattered everywhere and I packed up my notebook inside my bag. As the driver opened up the door for me, I was greeted once more by the incandescent sunlight as I shielded my eyes from the brightness.

"So sleepy…." I yawned, sticking my body out of the vehicle and stretching once I got out, "That was a nice ride, I'd give you five stars and a tip if I wasn't so broke."

He simply laughed at my lame attempt at a joke, "That's quite alright miss, I appreciate the sentiment regardless. I hope you have a wonderful time here at Crown Crest."

"Uhuh…" I nodded politely as he tipped his cap at me and headed back inside the limo and drove off, "I sure will…."

I watched the limo zoom off into the busy streets ahead and felt somewhat uneasy, almost as if something or someone had been watching me this entire time. I saw a looming shadow appear over me and as I turned around, I almost tripped over my footing upon seeing the gates to the academy.

It was decorated very ornately, with a curvy arched top and pointed spear-like tips coated in a silver metal, with the gates itself shimmering a bright golden hue as if it were made from actual gold. A very wide black metal fence lined the edges of the academy and reminded me of one of those fancy gated communities you'd see in any reality tv show about rich and famous people.

From what I could see, taking a few steps back, the academy itself almost rivalled Hope's Peak in every way, shape and size. It's funny how these two academies were always competing against each other, yet had similar architectural structures and glass skyscrapers, except the exterior walls of each building were silvery grey and almost brick-like, similar to a castle.

The school's crest was just like how it was in the live video: a shiny golden crown with multi-colored gems atop its tips with furry white cotton around its base edges. It was located in the center of the highest point atop the main building. I'd probably wager that this place was about two times larger than Hope's Peak, based on what I've seen from aerial views of the school. The rooftops of each building had shiny golden tips curved into points with small golden circles atop each one, as if each building represented a part of the crown.

"Oh my goodness…" I was baffled beyond words, it was hard to describe how I felt but nothing could prepare for something like that, "It's almost a carbon copy of Hope's Peak in every sense of the word."

"Well, I'm sorry if that's the impression you got from it," a deep male voice emerged from out of the blue, "I told the architects to keep it simple, so much for originality."

"Wah?!" I jumped, startled by the voice, "W-Who's there!?"

"Haha, relax Miss Miyagawa," the voice chuckled, "I'm sorry if I scared you, my apologies."

I looked away from admiring the architecture and saw a man approaching me with a small entourage of security guards wearing black suits, black shades and wiretaps in their ears, following closely behind him.

The man himself was not who I expected whatsoever to be greeting me. He looked very handsome, a bit young but was probably in his late twenties or early thirties, like the limo driver from earlier. He had long, straight white hair that reached all the way to his lower back with some long wavy bangs framing the sides of his face and a few long strands perched on his forehead almost covering his eyes. He had very thin, almost enchanting golden yellow eyes with thin black eyebrows. His gaze made me feel weird, but somewhat welcomed. His skin was fair white with a hint of a healthy light tan, his outfit covered his body but I could faintly make out some muscle tone in his figure and there was some semblance of dark stubble on his angular chin.

He wore a black dress shirt with a white tie around his neck with the collar button undone. He wore a dark red satin business jacket over his shirt left unbuttoned and matching red pants along with pointed toe black dress shoes that were gleaming a mirror's reflective shine. Lastly, he wore a gold watch around his right wrist, diamond cufflinks fastened into his shirt cuffs and he appeared to be wearing simple black studded earrings in both ears as well.

"Ah, Headmaster Watase," I remembered his image from the live press conference, "It's a pleasure to meet you, sir."

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Miyagawa," he walked over to me and shook my hand, his hands were soft but his grip was firm and tight, "I'm very elated to hear you have chosen our academy to further pursue your academic goals."

"Well, let's just say you and Hope's Peak made it tough to decide, hehe." I nervously chuckled, hoping to not offend him before entering his school, "But my conscience told me that this was the best option for my future studies."

"I see, well, you have made an excellent choice indeed," he let go of my hand, casually brushing back his long white strands of hair from his face and greeted me with a calm smile, "It's a shame what has become of Hope's Peak, but c'est la vie."

"Couldn't agree more." I agreed, hoping to get on his good side, "I'm just happy that I get to experience the wonders of what it's like to become a Crown student." I gagged internally at my statement, but kept a straight face, "It's like a dream come true."

"I appreciate your enthusiasm," he nodded his head, "But formalities aside, welcome to Crown Crest Academy, we hope you have a grand time here."

"Thank you sir," I politely responded, biting the lie that almost escaped my lips, "I actually had a few questions to ask-"

Just before I could talk with him, a ringing noise buzzed from his pants pocket. He pulled out his phone, almost wincing at who was calling him. He sighed deeply, his finger hovering over the green answer button hesitantly.

"Pardon me, Miss Miyagawa," he apologized, frowning disappointedly at the inconvenience, "I'd love to field your questions, but I have an urgent call to take, sorry for the poor timing."

"Nah, it's alright," I waved it off cooly, "I'd like to examine and tour the campus, if you don't mind."

"I understand, would you like a student assistant to help guide you around?" he asked, with the buzzing from his phone annoying him by the minute.

"No thank you, I'd much prefer to find everything on my own," I reply almost rapidly, anxiously trying to exit the conversation so I could go snooping, "I am the Crown Journalist after all."

"Hah, very well," he smiled back, tapping the answer button, "If you need anything, feel free to ask the receptionist at the front desk."

"Will do."

Headmaster Watase left, alongside his security team, and headed off in another direction to another building area. I took one long look at the daunting academy ahead of me and steeled my nerves for what was to come. I never thought I'd get this far, but it's too late to quit now.

I walked towards the front entrance, climbing up the metallic stone steps and entering inside. The glass doors automatically opened as I felt the cool A/C brush past me as I walked inside.

"So far so good…." I took one more deep breath in, looking around for the receptionist.

I noticed the front desk and it was very nice for a waiting area. The floor was tiled a mahogany brown color that looked similar to wooden floors but had a rustic feel combined with a modern metal surface. The walls were plain white, but each one had beautifully hand painted portraits and paintings of various works from supposedly the Crown students residing here.

Instead of chairs, there were silver colored sofas shaped like crowns with golden throw pillows resting neatly against each other on each one. There was a small water cooler fashioned into the wall with recyclable paper cups attached to a hook in the wall alongside a waste free recyclable garbage bag, so props for being environmentally friendly. Lastly there was a circular receptionist desk in the center of the wide room, with a pair of elevators at the far back of the room and two staircases on opposite sides of each other as well as a few doors leading outside in another far off hallway.

"Hello?" I called out, "Is anyone available?"

No response, just absolute silence.

"That's weird…." I frowned, fiddling with a loose strand of hair around my neck, "Eh, I guess she's on her lunch break or something."

I shrugged my shoulders, perusing the room once more and noticed a small silver ornate tray with a plate of freshly baked cookies plated neatly atop each other in the counter. The wafting scent permeated the room with a chocolatey aroma and the warm steam enticed me deeply.

"Hmm...should I?" I wondered what to do in the meantime, "Eh, I'm still peckish from earlier, so much for that diet."

I approached the reception desk, looked around the room once more and took one large cookie from the pile. I sink my teeth into it, nomming on the soft texture like a child after their dentist appointment and wiped some crumbs from my face.

"Mhm~ These are the best cookies I've ever had," I giggled happily, licking my lips to get the residue chocolate from the corners, "I wonder if there's a Crown Baker enrolled here?"

After indulging myself once more, I proceeded to head over to the elevator doors. While there was so much to do and so many places to venture, I was instinctively drawn to the golden plated doors of the elevator and pressed the up button.

I hummed away, nibbling on my cookie and waited for the elevator to arrive as I quickly got bored after seeing it was on the tenth floor. I noticed that there were almost twenty floors to this building and I almost choked on my cookie right then.

"How many rooms does this place even need?" I pondered, feeling a tad drowsy, "I….*yawn* uh….so sleepy."

It was then that my body started to feel a bit tipsy, almost lethargic if you will. I didn't really sleep late last night and I actually woke up earlier than I thought I would beforehand, so what gives?

"Aww shit…." I dropped the cookie out of my hand, realizing immediately that it had been laced with some kind of sedative, "W-What's happening…."

I stumbled to the wall, hearing the elevator ding as it got to the first floor where I was. It felt like millions of pressure beads kept pushing my body to the ground as I felt the weight of my entire being crumbling under me. My body dropped to the floor with a loud thud as the doors to the elevator slowly opened up. As it opened, I noticed a silhouetted figure emerge from inside.

"W-Who….are…" before I could finish my words, my eyelids closed slowly, my vision got blurry and I could barely hear the person's footsteps.

My head slumped over on the side of the floor, the drug having took full effect as the figure stood over my body. The last few words I heard before passing out, I could remember them almost too vividly.

"Welcome my precious crown student," their voice was cartoonish but sinister, "Sweet dreams~"

…...

* * *

**A/N**: Hey guys, how's it going, so nice to see you all again. I know this story's deadline is quite June 2020, for those curious, but I just couldn't help myself, you know.

I'm really glad that you all liked the intro chapter to my reboot story. I had a lot of fun writing it and this chapter should hopefully give you all some more insight about Crown Crest's resources, as well as how they impress the new and transfer students. I did my best to elaborate on some things, so I hope this chapter helps give you all some more background on them.

To those that have sent forms early, thank you so much for your wonderful OC and to those from the former old cast, I appreciate you resending your OC and seeing what improvements were made to them. I love reading each form and I wanted to reward you all with an early chapter release.

I feel like I should clarify, but the "if they were a transfer student from HP" section is only applicable to former Hope's Peak students. It does not apply to new students who never went to Hope's Peak or have no reason for said transfer. I hope that helps alleviate any concerns for you all, since I've seen some OC forms say the character has never been to Hope's Peak and still filling in that optional section. You're welcome :3.

I've been busy lately with my new classes and I've had a few minor mental breakdowns, so that's why chapters have been slow as of late. I hope it's alright, but for now I won't upload the next chapter until I get the finalized cast list or somewhere close to where I can safely determine who will be accepted in June.

What did you think of this chapter? Did you notice any new elements added to Arihime's character? I hope you all liked the new changes, I had to touch up some old elements, but it was fun regardless.

That's all I have to say really, I hope you all have a wonderful day, night, holiday or whatever it is you are celebrating and I will see you all in the next upload or whenever I decide to post next. For now happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike.

Bye bye!


	3. Precious Crown Gems (Intros Pt1)

**Editor: Crimson Spider Lily**

* * *

"Girl, are you for real?!" one of my friends remarked, her eyes almost bulging out in surprise.

"Mhm, I got the job!" I smirked, huffing triumphantly, "Mr. Maita did tell me to be careful of course, but in the end, he signed off on it, alongside Mr. Inoue who was more than happy to send me on my way."

"Shit, that's the opportunity of a lifetime," another friend of mine added on, sipping some of his herbal green tea from a coffee cup, "I'd kill for that job, imagine the amount of money you'd get! The kinds of people who are going to theorize and discuss elements from your work, I'm quite impressed."

I sat there at the outdoor cafe table, alongside three of my closest co-workers at Inoue & Maita Publishing. The four of us collectively gossiped about our assignments while we were eating on our designated lunch break, hoping to enlighten each other with the juicy details of our cases.

"So spill the tea, Ari," Miyumi sipped her pink and white boba tea with eager anticipation, brushing her dark blonde hair out from her face to reveal her ocean blue eyes, "How'd you do it? Did you give him the puppy dog eye look like you always do? Did you leave him a dessert from his favorite bakery? Come on tell us!"

"No, Miyu, I didn't do either of those things," I rolled my eyes, sipping my caramel macchiato, "I mean I tried to do both, but he didn't seem to budge at first and the bakery ran out his favorite pastry so..."

"Ah, typical Arihime," Sharad clicked his tongue, shaking his head in amusement, "That man practically adores you more than his own biological daughter. Mr. M sure is a pushover."

"Hey, don't talk about him like that," I jumped to his defense, feeling a bit infantilized if anything, "Heh, you're just jealous that he likes my journalistic work ethic over you guys."

"Yeah right, Ari," Elise scoffed, not buying a word I was saying as she munched on her sugar covered chocolate muffin, "We all know you're his favorite go-to journalist, no need to brag about it," she flipped back her dark blue dyed hair, some chocolate crumbs caked on her purple painted lips.

"Why are you all attacking me like this? I thought we were friends," I sighed, before some of them started chuckling giddily, "Anyway, what assignments did you three get this week? Anything exciting that could shoot my potential story out of the water?"

"Ugh, don't get me started on that. I got the opening ceremony to that new senior center downtown that's opening in a few days," Miyumi groaned, chewing some boba beads, "I'm gonna get peppered with denture spit riddled kisses by the time I finish talking with the owner of the place, someone end me now." She played around with her plastic straw, "I do not need some creepy old geezer trying to flirt with me or an old lady trying to get me into her bingo craze."

"Girl, you don't have to tell me," Elise snorted, entertained by her colleague's boring task, "Maita stuck me with that ridiculous sex scandal case involving those two hollywood celebs, yawn, boring!" She bit into a chocolate chip that had fallen on her new jeans.

"Oh, you mean the one between that up and coming action star Yasuo Iwao and that new rising actress, feminist activist Chiyuri Shina?" I asked, trying to remember who she was referencing, "Why's that so bad? If anything it sounds enticing."

"Bitch please, you and practically everyone out there have heard those gross tapes by now," the blue haired journalist wiped some of the crumb infused lipstick on a nearby napkin, "Who knew she was such a lying, grifting hypocrite and an abuser too." She seemed rather irritated, but this was normal for her when she ranted, "Poor Yasuo, Shina is an embarrassment to the feminist movement, I knew there was something up with her from the start."

"That's what my mom told me before going off to college," Sharad chuckled, "Keep my little guy wrapped up and focused on my studies and avoid all the crazy hot people. You never know who's gonna betray you next."

"You're such an ass, Shar," Elise nudged him in the shoulder, "What'd you get? Another cult planning a religious protest, a so-called Japanese supremacist uprising or some shit?"

"Sounds more polarizing than fun, but none of those. I'm supposed to write a piece for that young new politician, name's Hayashi Date I think it was." He bit into his blueberry muffin, "He's looking to get a good article published about himself to get in the public's good graces."

"So, this should be your cup of tea," I snickered, teasing him, "Why, he's not in your top ten most dateable list or something?"

He gagged visually, a blueberry sliding off of his muffin, "Please, he's a handsome guy, chiseled jawline, nice hair and with a tight ass too, but he's straighter than a ruler, definitely not my type. I'm going to dread hearing him talk about himself as if he's the second coming of some prophet or something."

"Lucky, I'd love to probe that smarmy douchebag about his alleged past with his old flames," Elise bit her lower lip, "No man that good looking is that perfect and he's bound to be hiding something under that smug smile of his. Ugh, he just rubs me the wrong way."

"Sounds like you have your priorities straight," Miyumi giggled, nearly choking on her drink from the slightly heated chat, "You guys got the good ones this week, I got stuck with crusty, wrinkly old people, and not to mention Ari here is taunting us with her high profile case involving one of the biggest and most elusive mysteries to date."

"Hey, you wanna go in my place and deal with a bunch of elitist snobs, be my guest," I shrugged nibbling on my large chocolate cookie, "I've been working on this for a while you know, so unless you wanna pitch in and join Crown Crest to see what it's all about, go right ahead, Miyu."

"Damn girl, no need to go on the offensive, I was just kidding," the blonde backed off, noticing how defensive I got, "But still, it's really fucked up what's happening at Hope's Peak. I can't believe it fell from grace so quickly overnight."

"It's a fucking nightmare if you ask me," Sharad snickered, sipping more of his green tea, "I'm so happy that I don't have to deal with those problematic pampered brats, they'd probably deport my ass back to India if I so much as breathed in their general direction, god forbid they find out I like dudes."

"Oh my god," Elise nearly choked on her drink, laughing, "Don't joke about that, girl. Although I wouldn't mind starting the hashtag on Chirper for you, could be a helluva storm and I love me some good drama," she winked mischievously.

"Guys, knock it off," I quelled their overexcitement for a moment to collect my thoughts, "I know this is a huge deal, but don't go around telling everyone, alright? It's supposed to be very low profile. Who knows who could be listening in right now."

"Uhuh," Miyumi looked at me, unimpressed, "Ari, listen, you're not the most covert person ever, you know? Remember that time you removed your shirt to rally with those other half-naked protestors?" She snorted a laugh mid-sentence, "I can't believe they actually painted your body to look like a dead cow outside that one supposed vegan cafe accused of selling meat products. It was fucking hilarious."

"Don't remind me of that nonsense again, Miyu," I cringed, wiping my glasses, "I'm trying not to picture that disgusting image of me on Snapgram. Ewww, the flashbacks are back, thanks a lot."

"You gotta admit, you really did mooooove that crowd," Elise snickered, "Although I could never picture you abstaining from meat ever in my life."

"Yeah, and you covering yourself in your alleged fake period blood and putting X shaped black tape on your nipples is really going to get people to stop drawing sexualized characters in comics, Ellie," I joked, almost dying of internal laughter.

"Point received, I would have gladly continued, if that one creepy guy didn't try to worm his way into my pants, all because he claimed to be a male feminist fighting for my rights," she shivered in disgust, "Just another sleazy douchebag trying to get laid, it's pathetic."

"That's some men for you, you can never be too careful," Sharad patted her on the back, despite how droll he made it sound, "But Ari, are you really going to do this? What if you get caught? What if those crown whatevers try to blacklist you from jobs or harass you off the face of the earth?"

"Pfft, please Shar, it's not like they can actually sue me," I confidently smirked, sipping my drink, "I don't even have a penny in my savings account for them to even jack off to. It's a pointless battle to sue a broke journalist and what's the point in wasting their precious time and resources."

"That's kinda sad though when you think about it…" Miyumi empathetically said, "Although I'd be more than happy to punch any of those snooty bitches in the face to restore your lost integrity, rules be damned!"

"Aww, that's sweet of you," I coyly smiled, "However, I can handle myself, I'll probably be eating cream puffs, swimming in the large clean pool and lounging in my room all day doing nothing but working on my story."

"Seriously, you get all the good shit," Elise rolled her eyes, "Hey, do you think you could sneak in a good word for me if this place is actually legit? I don't mind becoming the next Crown Activist, if you know what I mean, heh." She gestured finger guns in my direction.

"You really are shameless, Ell," Sharad nudged her in the shoulder, pushing up his shirt sleeves, "But Ari, in all fairness, at least get us in on it too, I can become the next Crown Online Blogger or the next Perry Halton, I mean can you imagine how good it will look to my parents and relatives back home? I can finally show off to them and rub the fame in my cousins' faces."

"With your trash grammar and diction skills," I shook my head, stifling a laugh, "You're better off buying a dictionary than getting into that place, they're fucking cutthroat as heck with all that competition."

"And yet you seem to be getting all the gift baskets and presents," Miyumi retorted, "You had two of the best academies in the country vying for your participation and you want to act humble now, girl please. I know you better than that, don't act like you're slick."

"I'm sorry, but is that the little voice in my head, telling me not to invite them to the next free spa session with free mani-pedis and complimentary snacks and drinks?" Miyu immediately hushed up, "Yeah, thought so."

"Kidding aside, we're all very proud of how far you've gotten Ari," Sharad gave me a thumbs up and a smile, "None of us could have ever done that much intense research and planned all of this, you girl are dedicated as fuck."

"Normally, I'd challenge that line of thinking, but I have to concede as well for now," Elise held her tongue, "I do love how concise and unbiased your writing is, even though you use a shit ton of commas and exclamation marks, a bit too much for my liking."

"Yeah girl, you got this!" Miyumi nodded her head, punching me lightly in the shoulder, "It's a shame we won't be there to see the looks on those elitist pricks' faces when you shut them down with the truth. I'm definitely grabbing the popcorn and the good wine for when you post it."

"You guys…." I looked at all three of them with slight tears of joy, "I don't deserve this love and attention….don't stop now, keep it coming."

"You're such a moron," Miyumi jabbed comically.

"Aren't we all?" I mused schemingly, "I got this guys, don't you worry about me. Nothing bad's going to happen at all, it's gonna be a piece of cake."

* * *

Fuck you past Arihime. How dare you jinx me like that? In all fairness, hindsight is twenty twenty, so what did I honestly expect?

Before I passed out, the last thing I could remember was hearing someone's words, almost maliciously welcoming me to the academy. I didn't recognize the tone of their voice or what they looked like, I've never heard or seen them before so it was all a blur.

The sedative they used seemed to have knocked me out for a good few hours, although it was really hard to tell how long I was passed out for; thank goodness I had a watch on me. My body still suffered from the aftereffects of the drug as each lethargic movement slowly creeped it's way into my joints, cracking noises galore.

I woke up in some kind of room, my back smoothly pressed against a cold metal surface as I shivered in place, seeing how blurry things were. The overhead lights shone directly into my eye as it shook me awake, the popcorn ceiling was a somber shade of dark blue and there was an A/C unit in the corner of the room blasting cold air down on me.

"W-What? Where am I?" I sleepily responded, rubbing my eyes as I sat up, noticing that I was lying on a metal table, "W-Who put me here?"

I frantically searched around my surroundings for my glasses and felt them resting on my sweater neckline. I framed them on my face as things became more vivid and my vision adjusted to the unusually bright lighting.

I saw that I was inside some kind of classroom, a rather fancy one at that. There were about sixteen desks in the room, mahogany designed with intricate detailing in each frame alongside wide brown armchairs with soft red cushioning on each one, looking more like a showcase prop than an actual student's desk.

I arose from my resting position and noticed the metal desk I lay on had nothing on it, sans a small compartment desk with a keyhole lock in the center. Behind me was a whiteboard with assorted colored markers alongside a plasma flat screen television that seemed to almost rival the ones inside the limo. The floor was tiled a stainless grey with what appeared to be a royal red carpet under all the desks, making it pop intensely amongst all the solid cool colors.

"Wow…" I stood there in awe, "Is this even a classroom?" I momentarily realized what the situation was after briefly zoning out, "Wait? Who the fuck put me here? Am I still inside the academy? Where is Headmaster Watase? Where's my bag?"

I perused the room frantically for my belongings, noticing they weren't on the desk and kept searching until I found it resting off to the side. My heart nearly fell out of my chest as I rushed over to retrieve it.

"Oh, thank goodness…" I sighed with relief, before hitting my head on something hard, "Oww!" I looked up to see there were metal bars over the windows, obscuring my view of the outside.

"This is freaky…" I turned away from the prison like windows and rifled through my bag to find my phone, "Where is it!? Holy shit, not now…."

After a brief inventory check, I noticed that my notebooks, stationary and snacks were still tucked inside, but it seemed whoever had drugged me pilfered my phone, but left me with my laptop and charger.

"Aww fuck….well at least I have some tech with me," I was about to close my bag before I noticed a shiny glint shimmer from inside, "Huh, what's this?"

I pulled out what looked to be an Ipad similar to the one from the limo, but while it did bear the same school crest insignia of Crown Crest, it also had a weird bear icon plastered underneath, wearing the aforementioned crown atop its head. The bear's face was round in shape and had one dotted black eye in place of i's right eye and one jagged red mark in the place of its left eye, accompanied by a maliciously evil smile.

"This is weird….might as well see what's on this," I pressed the home button near the bottom and the screen interface opened up to the school logo on a plain golden background with my entire profile listed on the front home page.

"What the fuck?" I furrowed my brow, a bit shocked by this revelation, "Who took this picture of me? And why did they get my bad side with that frumpy looking bed head?"

The home page showed a profile picture of myself, most notably the upper half, along with a few other details such as my full name, age, birthday, talent and even small details such as my likes and dislikes. It worried me that whoever left this in my bag creepily knew all this information about me and how scarily accurate these personal traits were.

Was someone stalking me? Did they break into my apartment while I was at work or shopping? Did they see me naked while I was in the shower?

The invasion of my privacy coupled with the emptiness in the room made my skin crawl with disgust and really surprised me above all else, was that my name was listed on top along with a fancy title right next to it, officially noting me as a crown student of Crown Crest.

**ARIHIME MIYAGAWA - CROWN JOURNALIST**

"This is...absolutely insane!" I shook my head, hoping to wake up from my alleged dream, "Why am I not waking up, come on wake up Ari!" I kept at this for a few minutes.

I then pinched my skin, hoping to get a knee jerk reaction to get up, alas I was wide awake and a part of my skin was red and slightly burning. Great, just what I needed. I walked over to the sliding doors, opening them, hoping to see where I was and peered out into what appeared to be a vacant classroom hallway.

The halls were painted a milky, silvery white color like in the lobby previously, but there appeared to be more weirdly painted abstract images on each wall, along with some trophy cases with shiny golden trophies lined in each one. The ceilings had these tacky looking circular light fixtures and they all lit up to illuminate the deep blue tiled floors, accompanied by golden sofas placed evenly near each classroom entrance.

"Hello! Anyone out here?" I called out, hearing my voice echo in the dead silence, "If you're going to attack me, please don't. I don't have any medical insurance!"

After a few minutes of awkward silence, I went back inside the classroom, slightly afraid to venture out into the unknown, and potentially face whoever kidnapped me. I sat on one of the oddly comfortable chairs, pulled out one of my notebooks and a black ink pen and began detailing my surroundings and my findings so far.

"Assuming I'm still inside the school itself…." I jotted down more notes, internally monologuing to myself, "That must mean that Headmaster Watase knows something or he's completely oblivious to one of his students going missing right after meeting them."

I knew something was up with this school. However, I didn't expect things to go sour this fast though, but was it really Watase behind this? It could be an unrelated kidnapping and someone just stole me away while no one was present, but how did his security team miss that? What is there to gain from kidnapping me anyway?

Please don't tell me it's that creepy Russian drug trafficker again, ugh, I'm not dealing with that jackass again. Then again, he did get arrested recently, and I doubt he has the resources to pull something as elaborate as this, so that's one fear allayed.

"Is someone there!" a deep male voice bellowed from outside, "Hey, answer me!"

"Oh shit, it might be them, gotta hide," I scrambled to retrieve my belongings as I hid in one of the metal lockers in the corner of the room, "Please don't see me…"

The classroom door swung open as a figure, a guy, entered the room, searching frantically around for the voice he heard. I squeezed my body as tightly as I could to avoid him seeing me and held my breath as I saw him searching the room vigilantly. I felt my entire body coil up in fear and apprehension as he stopped in the middle of his search and turned around.

"Please don't fart, please don't fart," I internally told myself, closing my eyes, "Please don't notice me…"

The man's footsteps stopped momentarily, I was anxiously shaking as I opened up my eyes, looking around the room and saw nobody in sight. I opened up the locker door slowly and quietly so as to not alert him.

"Phew...thank goodness, he's gone," I anxiously sighed, feeling my legs almost give up on me.

"What the fuck were you doing in there?" a voice interrupted me mid-thoughts, belonging to the same male figure, "What a stupidly obvious hiding spot."

"Oh fucking hell!" I jumped in place, almost tripping over and hitting the side of one of the desks, "D-Don't scare me like that- Wait a minute...I know that voice."

I then looked to the man in front of me and saw him fearsomely look down on me as I looked back up at him. This oddly familiar voice belonged to a very imposing and very tall man, who stood at about six foot three and looked to almost touch the ceiling, given his height.

On top of being very tall, he was also very muscular and had a very strong, yet intimidating presence to him that almost made me sweat in my shoes. His tanned rough skin showed that he worked outside a lot and his short dark brown hair was pulled back ever so slightly. His thick dark brown eyebrows were sternly furrowed above his intense brown eyes, with a seemingly permanent, serious scowl present on his face, one that made you think twice before messing with him, if his intimidating physique wasn't enough to scare you straight.

He wore a dark blue button-up shirt with the top two buttons left undone and the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, leaving his forearms exposed, also revealing a small scar atop his right hand, alongside a black body warmer unzipped under his shirt. To complete his look, he wore cream combat-colored trousers tucked into brown laced combat boots tightly tied into small bows. And to finish off his look, he wore a silver necklace with silver dog tags around his neck.

Normally, I'd be frightened of this man, given his almost beastly visage, but I knew better than that, since I actually knew him beforehand. If anything, it was nice to see him here out of all the people I've known.

"What are the fucking odds we meet again, Arihime Miyagawa," he disappointedly groaned, sounding as if he's been through this regularly, "I should have expected someone like you to be here. It's the perfect hotspot for a snooping journalist."

"Well, nice to see you again too, **Takeshi Kagohara**," I smugly greeted him, fixing my messenger bag's strap around my shoulder, "You know, for a cop, you really ought to be more careful with how you talk to and treat a lady. It's very unbecoming of you and not a cute character flaw."

"Fine then, tell me where she is and I'll let you know how it goes," he abrasively responded, crossing his arms like a disappointed father, "I see you still have the same witty attitude as before; some things never change."

"Rude, I take offense to that, but nevermind." I shook off his callous remark casually, "What are you even doing here? Did your captain send you on another undercover mission?" I asked, keeping a firm stance the entire time, "Or is this some kind of illegal one man police raid?"

"Oh, have I not missed your horrible quips and one liners. To answer your annoying ass questions: no," he continued, bluntly expressing his disdain for this conversation, "Assuming you're here for the same reason I am, we've both been accepted as crown students to this new "academy.""

"Huh really? So Headmaster Watase dubbed you the **Crown Police Officer**, is that correct?" I cocked my head in surprise.

"Pretty fucking much," he plainly said as matter of factly as he could.

**TAKESHI KAGOHARA - CROWN POLICE OFFICER**

For those who don't know, Takeshi here works as one of the head police officers in the Tokyo metro division of Japan. This guy is what you would call the pure definition of a golden boy hardass with a massive stick up his butt.

It's no secret that in my line of work, I've come across a lot of suspect cases and worked with the police, specifically in his division, on many undercover assignments. It usually entailed him and his buddies using me as undercover bait to lure in unsuspecting criminals to leak all their secrets and plans while I wore a wiretap. Then when the jig was up, he'd come in to save the day and arrest them before they could oust me as a mole.

In return for my compliance, my bosses would get a nice paycheck from Tokyo P.D and I'd get some valuable information to work with for my articles, as long as I posted them after the official arrests.

However, he and I always had a very 'rigid' relationship, if you could call it that. He's a rather semi-aggressive person who always tends to think critically of others if they leave a bad impression on him. Shockingly, he's always viewed me as a nosy, out of the box troublemaker and I'd annoy the everloving shit out of him to give me more details on certain cases that piqued my interest, you can fill in the rest of the dots there.

To say I was shocked to see him here of all places would be an understatement, but I never expected us to be here at the same time, on the same day no less.

"I didn't expect you to join this academy so voluntarily, Takeshi." I mused over my next few words, "If anything, it seems way out of your ballpark and above your paygrade, no offense," I played around with a pencil out of boredom.

"None taken," he raised an eyebrow, completely done with this conversation, "However, I know that when shit hits the fan, then I know you're most likely to be around the fire when there's smoke. Did you get into trouble again?"

"No, not that I know of any way. Also, excuse me if I'm just doing my job, you big meathead," I retorted childishly, annoyed by his stoic confidence, "Although if there is a kidnapper lurking around this place, I'm at least thankful you're around. You can even be my human meat shield to protect me!"

"Heh, lucky me," he clicked his tongue annoyed, rolling his eyes at my statement, "But tell me, did you also get a fancy escort and limo ride to this place? Did you meet the headmaster at the front gate and suddenly feel drowsy after pressing the elevator buttons in the front lobby like I was?"

"Sounds about right," I puffed up my cheeks, scared of how similar our experiences were, "There's definitely something afoot going on here. Speaking of, did you happen to see anyone else trapped here with us? I just woke up so I wouldn't know."

"That's the first fucking thing I did." He grumpily said, "I passed by three people so far, some freaky kid playing with a spider and these two art weirdos critiquing paintings around the corner hallway," he mentioned, leaning against the wall with his hand rubbing the side of his forehead, "I was in the middle of searching this place when I overheard your voice calling for help."

"I see, I guess you of all people would be on the ball about situations like this," I mulled it over, genuinely curious about the three people he alluded to, "I mean, for all we know the kidnapper is still hiding in the shadows, probably about to surprise attack us as soon as we open that door."

"In that case, I'll just tackle them and restrain them to the ground," he frowned, upset with my response, "Did you fucking forget that it's my job to detain people like that?" he threw my words right back at me.

"Touché….fine, let's just get a move on already," I yielded, letting him walk ahead of me as I followed closely behind.

The police officer and I both exited the classroom, him walking almost militantly as I looked around for anything interesting. The classroom I was in was labelled 2-4 and there seemed to be about three other classrooms on this floor, in numerical order from 2-1, to 2-2 and 2-3, you get the idea.

Takeshi explained that he came across a nurse's infirmary as well as some bathrooms and it seemed he woke up in a janitor's closet, unlike myself; it's a shame I didn't get to snap a pic of him with a mop on his head as he awoke.

After my own quick perusal, I noticed plain mustard yellow double doors with a sign labelled 'Cafeteria' glowing in a bright red LED light and another pair of white doors leading to the 'Gym'.

"Hey, where do those doors lead to?" I stopped walking halfway, pointing to a pair of velvet purple wide doors with black intricate handles, "Have you checked that out yet?"

"No I haven't," he seemed as shocked as I was, as he approached them "Let me see, stand back."

I did as he told and watched him try to open the doors with all his strength. The doors rattled a little bit, but despite Takeshi's physical might, he wasn't able to get the doors open. That only made me even more curious as to what those doors were hiding behind its alluring design.

"Fucking hell, this door is like a brick wall," he panted heavily after letting go of the handles, "I'd try to force it down, but who knows what alarm could get triggered or if there's a bomb on the other side."

"Sounds reasonable enough," I scratched my head, confused even more as I noticed there didn't appear to be any locking mechanisms or keyholes on the door, "I guess we'll find out later. Let's search around for something else."

Leaving those doors for now, the two of us continued to wander around the halls in search of other signs of life. It was then after a few minutes we started hearing what appeared to be classical music coming from one of the many rooms on this floor, one we've not seen before.

"Is someone playing the fucking violin at a time like this?" Takeshi sounded irritated, but was also perplexed.

"Well not everyone can just barge through doors and take names like you, dumb dumb," I chided his silly response, "I think it's coming from that room over there."

I looked to see a small wooden door leading to a room marked 'Music Room' and the police officer and I both walked towards it, hoping to not alarm the person inside. The music's lilting notes eased my anxiety into a false sense of security as I slightly pushed the door open to get a better look of the interior.

The music room was what you'd expect of any music room to begin with; loads of instruments were lined up on nearly the walls, such as flutes, tubas, trumpets, violins, triangles and all assorted others from different musical families. There were posters of famous composers such as Beethoven, Tchaivosky and many more classical figures plastered on the walls and there were about three rows of five wooden chairs all assorted next to each other with a composer's stand positioned near the front of the chairs with scattered musical pages on the stand.

Upon further inspection, there was a person, a girl playing a large stringed instrument, a cello of all things. She appeared to be in a deep trance as she strummed the cello's bow against each string delicately, entertaining our ears with a harmonious melody from a classical song, probably from Johann Sebastian, if my lack of musical intellect was correct.

This girl had very delicate and feminine features. She was a slim and slender person, probably around the same average height as me, with rather thin but slightly toned limbs. She looked slightly underweight, with her rather bony appearance, but what struck me as odd was the subtle curves in her waist, her narrow shoulders and average sized bosom, probably as big as mine, but I'm not here to shame anyone.

She had rather defined facial features from her jawline, to her high cheekbones and her slightly pointed chin, even her bright green eyes were narrowed and sort of feline-looking, emphasized by long mascara coated eyelashes, small patches of dark eyeshadow, a mole under her left eyelid and thin dark arched eyebrows. Her nose was slightly upturned and petite while thin pale red lips and rouge powdered cheeks complimented her lightly tanned complexion.

Her golden brown hair was naturally curled and well conditioned from how lustrous it looked as it fell past her chest, but it was fashioned into a high ponytail which deviated to the left side of her head and brushed against her shoulder. Her fringe swept to the right side of her forehead, with some longer bangs framing the sides of her chin along with a hair grip fashioned into her fringe.

If this girl wasn't the pure definition of a fancy elitist, her clothes seemed to match as well. She wore a dark grey silky top with lace embellishments around the upper section of her chest and around the sleeves. A thin halter neckline wound up behind her and crossed in front with Bardot off-the-shoulder sleeves. The lower section was neatly tucked into a black layered ruffle skirt with flared edges that transitioned from light to darker shades of black and ended just above her knees.

She wore a pair of dark tights with silvery glam flecks patterned on the design along with a pair of black suede heels, secured with black jewel straps. Off to the side, on another chair, was a leather jacket with the sleeves rolled back to the elbows, looking to be of a designer brand as well to match the girl's fashion sense.

To finish off her extravagant, and quite frankly overly aggrandizing look, there was a thick black belt fastened with a silver buckle around her waistline, black mesh fingerless gloves on both of her hands and a small silver charm bracelet around her right wrist with a few indiscernible charms I couldn't make out from afar. She wore a pair of dangling quaver musical note earrings, a large black silvery glitter bow fastened on the back of her head with two star shaped hair grips on the left side in the shape of a musical score and cute pearly white cat face.

Just taking in her appearance was exhausting alone, thanks writer for putting in all of the minute details. Despite how simple her look was, she was dressed as I expected of the students here at Crown Crest, privileged and elegant all in one person.

Takeshi hovered over me as I slowly opened up the door, noticing the girl still playing her song as I knocked on the door.

"Excuse me?" I called out to her, hoping to gain her attention, "Can we talk to you?"

The girl yelped out in fright, whipping her head around as her eyes trained on me, forming a grumpy, confused look.

"Hmm? ...Oh. It's just another one of my fellow students here. Great…" She rested the cello and cello bow off to the side and put her jacket back on, approaching me with an air of confidence in her step.

"Well, what do you want? An autograph? Whatever it is, do make it quick. I'm practicing for an upcoming recital." She pompously explained, turning her nose up at me, "Hmph, really, I have far better things I could be doing, but thanks to you I am not anymore. I was just getting to the chorus! The life of a musical sensation is always accompanied by a fully booked schedule, not that I'd expect someone like you to know that."

Well then, looks like we've arrived at our destination, self-entitled bitch central. I mean, what did I expect; someone who dresses like her and struts around like she's hot shit is bound to get accepted at this academy.

"Pardon me if we interrupted your oh so important rehearsal," I politely, yet snidely, replied, "Do you happen to know what kind of situation you are in right now?"

"Does it look like I care?" she frowned grumpily, "Honestly, you could never understand what level of mastery it takes to even practice. I'll have you know I can't afford to take any breaks, so unless you have something better to ask me, I won't oblige you."

Never in my life have I ever wanted to punch someone's face so badly. The thought was tempting, although the police officer might give me even more dirty looks if I so much as caused a fracas, so I swallowed my pride for the moment to entertain her.

"Alright then, can you tell me your name?" I asked her calmly, "Are you also a student here?"

"Wait, you…*actually* don't know who I am?" She paused as if I said something totally foreign to her. "Haha, that's a good one. You *have* to be joking, there is *no* way you wouldn't have heard of me, unless you've been living like a hermit under a rock for the last five years!" she continued to monologue like a queen reading her lengthy speech.

"But alas, allow me to enlighten you anyway. *I* am the 'beautiful, inspirational and talented' - as quoted by 'Shining Star Magazine' - international musical sensation of the decade,** Carlotta Scordato**, accompanied by my own personal fanbase - the Legata Lotticas. You honestly couldn't find a better cellist in the world than me," she confidently said, smugly smiling as she continued to bore me with her life story, "Hence my new honoured title here as the **Crown Cellist**! And as much as I *love* a good interview, it will have to wait."

**CARLOTTA SCORDATO - CROWN CELLIST**

Jeez, this girl can run her mouth like it's no one's business, someone get me a muzzle. Just listening to her made me want to gouge my own ears out as I continued to put up a calm smile so she doesn't see my annoyed expression.

I turned around to see Takeshi smirking to himself as he knew that he didn't have to bother with her, leaving me to do the dirty work as I stared icy daggers at him, before turning back to the cellist herself.

"So….you're also a Crown student too?" someone save me please.

"Did you not hear me at all?" she sputtered in bafflement, "Yes, I am, I've been graciously blessed with this opportunity, obviously thanks to my wonderful cello skills! It's not easy being this popular and talented, I'm sure that concept evades you entirely."

"Fine then, but just so you know, I just so happen to be a journalist and also a student here as well," I firmly said, slowly losing my patience with her attitude, "Name's Arihime Miyagawa, answer the question, do you know how you got here?"

Carlotta's eyes lit up with shock as she analyzed me from top to bottom, aghast with my response but keeping her poised demeanor.

"Why didn't you say so, Arihime," she changed tunes once she found out my talent, "You just so happened to catch me in a bad spot is all, and I do take my craft seriously, so I tend to get snippy when I'm interrupted." She picked up the cello bow and fiddled with it, "I'm sure you're just dying to get an interview with me?"

"I'll put a pin in it," I gave her a short simple answer, "Do you even know anything about how you wound up trapped here?"

"Trapped? What do you mean? I thought I was invited to be a student here, no one said anything about being trapped!" she gripped her bow tightly, gritting her teeth in annoyance, "I just so happened to be playing my cello here the entire time, Headmaster Watase just told me to practice while the others arrived, so I don't understand what you mean by that."

"Ah, so you weren't drugged or kidnapped necessarily, you were just duped," I chuckled at that remark.

The cellist was left speechless as I gave her the summarized run down of how I got here and what has happened so far. Needless to say she wasn't having any of it.

"Well, how was I supposed to know that the situation was dire," she crossed her arms, annoyed for having been tricked, "You can't expect me to think anything less of the school. I have the headmaster to thank, so I don't believe your baloney story."

"You know what, fuck it, I'm done," I shrugged my shoulders, giving up on the conversation as I headed out, leaving the cellist to her hubris.

"Wait! Where are you going, don't you dare walk away from me!" she shouted, grabbing her belongings while I left the room.

"Heh, glad that wasn't me," Takeshi chuckled, walking alongside me as I gave him a death glare, "Hey, you can't hurt me, I'm a cop remember, don't you give me that stare."

"Fuck you," I replied curtly to his dry response, "You said there were two artists prancing around here right?"

"Yup, just around that corner, can't miss em," he pointed to the end of the hall, noticing an angry Carlotta trailing behind us with rather uppity movements, "Is she going to keep following us around like a stray dog?"

"How dare you! I'm not some wild animal!" the cellist responded, upset with his response, "I'll have you know I'm-"

I started speed walking away from her, the police officer's shocked face as he saw me making a run for it. Carlotta caught up to him, giving him a piece of her mind as he rubbed the sides of his temples and leaned against the wall.

"Yeah, that's what you get, karma's a bitch," I snickered mischievously, turning the corner and searching for the two artists in question, "Where are they?"

I then noticed some more abstract paintings on the wall, all by people who I've never met before or knew the names of. They ranged from black and white splotches, to multi-colored rainbow dots and even a mix of both in dripping patterns. While staring at the paintings, I then saw two people, a guy and a girl both looking at different paintings on the opposite walls.

The guy caught my attention first, considering he stood out the most. He had short, choppy looking black hair, almost as if he cut it himself, which didn't look bad but it wasn't stylish by any means. He had dark brown eyes, somewhat tanned skin that looked fair white but it was hard to tell and he looked to have an average build with some muscle tone in his frame. Which honestly was apparent to see, given his clothing, or lack thereof.

To put it simply, he had no shirt on, revealing his entire upper body with what looked to be paint stains having been washed off of his body recently. Aside from him being shirtless, he only wore a pair of beige shorts and plain sandals on his feet. There was a plain black bag slung across his chest, most likely filled with paint supplies if Takeshi's artist claim is to be believed. He also wore a necklace around his neck with a paint blob shaped pendant hanging from his neck.

While he was busy staring at a painting of an intricate chinese dragon glittering in bright red and green colors, I turned my attention to the girl opposite to him, thankfully she wore more clothes than him, so there's less risk of the FBI storming in here to arrest the author.

She had wavy, silvery chin-length hair with slightly messy bangs cut just above her dark grey eyes, that only accentuated her long, dark eyelashes even more against her pale white skin. She was rather tall and slender, almost like a model, with grey painted fingernails and black lipstick on her lips. She had this resting bitch face look on her face, but she seemed to be in just as deep thought as the guy next to her.

She wore a white knit sweater with long lantern sleeves, a small section of the sweater tucked in the center-right of her high waisted black faux leather shorts. She stood tall with her black square heel platform boots, which added a few more inches to her height as is.

There were multiple black and silver earrings on her ears as well as multiple black and silver rings on both of her hands. There was a black choker attached to a silver chain necklace with a silver ancient coin pendant hung around her neck. To complete her look, there was a pair of silver wire framed, big, black, round sunglasses that hung from her shorts' front pocket.

Unsure of who to approach first, I walked over to the shirtless guy's side, staring at the dragon painting he was intensely looking at. He seemed to almost be in a deep trance given how focused he was, almost as if he was trying to burn a hole into the painting itself.

"Umm...lovely weather we're having?" I awkwardly broke the ice, hoping to get his attention.

"Hmm…" he mumbled out, "You're interrupting my mojo. Could you please leave."

"Well excuse me…" my eyes bulged wide hearing his curt, but brash response, "Don't mind me, I just wanted to talk to you is all."

As if I struck a nerve with him, he turned his head in my direction, his eyes furrowed into an annoyed frown.

"Fine, I'm **Arata Toshikawa, Crown Body Painter**. Are you happy now?"

**ARATA TOSHIKAWA - CROWN BODY PAINTER**

"I would be if you dropped the negative attitude, Arata," I plainly told him, unable to keep a straight face around him with him having no shirt on, "Also, you must be cold, have you tried wearing shirts? I heard they're really comfortable."

"Would you just shut up already?" he angrily gritted his teeth at me, "I'm trying to get inspiration right now for my next work."

"Ah alright," my eyes twitched, my smile fading slightly as I left the body painter to his devices, then greeting the black and white dressed girl, "Hi there, whatcha looking at?"

"Nothing special, just another plain abstract piece, can't really tell what colors they are, but I'm sure it's good," she calmly spoke, staring at a blue and red dotted imprint painting, "Not my style."

"Oh, I see…." I wondered, confused by her response, "It's a lovely blue and red painting, quite vibrant if you ask me."

"Hmm? I'm sorry I must have zoned out there for a moment," she then turned to me, her resting bitch face looked even more punchable, but had that dead inside look mixed in, "I'm sorry I didn't notice you before."

"Nah, you're good, quite frankly it's nice to meet someone here who doesn't have a stick up their ass," I said aloud, hoping to get Arata's attention, "Anyway, name's Arihime Miyagawa, Crown Journalist, nice to meet you."

The monochrome girl interlaced her fingers together, musing over her response as she seemed to be thinking about something else, "Likewise, it's a pleasure to meet you, my name is **Kuromi Shirokawa**, I guess I'm the **Crown Monochrome Painter**."

**KUROMI SHIROKAWA - CROWN MONOCHROME PAINTER**

So it seems Takeshi's insight was right, those two are artists, painters to be exact. Although I much prefer Kuromi's response to Arata's. She seemed nice enough, if she didn't look so judgemental with her placid expressions.

"Cool talent. So what did you mean when you said you couldn't tell what colors were on the painting?" I asked her, genuinely curious as to what she meant.

"Oh, I'm sorry, it's not you, I have a medical condition called Achromatopsia," she continued to explain, "So I can't see any colors aside from black, white or grey."

"Ah, I see, that makes a lot of sense," I nodded my head slowly, "So, you kinda see everything as if it were a black and white noir film, heh?"

"I suppose you could look at it that way," she giggled softly at my joke, "I don't really see it as that big of a deal, but I also suffer from Hemeralopia."

"Meaning you can't see in brightly lit rooms, correct?" I asked, remembering that odd fact from a magazine I read once, "Is that why you carry around sunglasses indoors?"

"Pretty much…" she plainly said, "Do you by chance know of how we got here?"

"I'm not quite sure myself honestly," I sighed disappointedly, "I just woke up in a classroom after eating a drugged cookie left by the front desk."

"Hmph, what kind of person does that?" Arata interjected into our conversation, aloofly turning around and giving me an unimpressed look, "Quite stupid to just eat something out in the open."

"Hey man, I skipped breakfast alright," I half-lied, too irritated to really dive into the semantics, "And they were just regular chocolate chip cookies, so my bad that I didn't see anyone straight up lacing it with a sedative."

"You got drugged?" the monochrome painter added, cocking her head to the side, "That didn't happen to me, I just started staring at this one painting and immediately fell asleep."

"Probably a special chemical paint that induces drowsiness," I bit my lower lip, "So, you two got kidnapped as well?"

"I was busy admiring a different painting before some person stuck something into my neck," the body painter muttered grumpily, "The bastard stuffed me inside some kind of storage locker."

"And I woke up in the female bathroom," Kuromi simply said, "What's going on?"

That's the million dollar question right there. With the exception of Carlotta, it seemed that everyone else was incapacitated in some shape or form. Even if this is all a big coincidence, why are we the only ones in here?

"ARIHIME!" Takeshi's voice boomed, the three of us turned around to notice him being followed by the cellist, who seemed to be in the middle of lecturing him about something, "Do something about her please, for the love of fucking god."

I saw Carlotta huffing and puffing, her cheeks bright red and she seemed almost out of breath from giving the police officer a good talking to. Takeshi on the other hand, seemed just about ready to snap, a small vein noticeably visible on his forehead as he gripped his fists annoyedly.

"Yeah…..no, hey I'm going to head off now, I need to powder my nose," I lied, smiling a white lie through my teeth as I skipped off to find the bathroom, "It was nice meeting you Kuromi and Arata."

"Later.." the monochrome painter softly whispered out.

"Whatever…" the body painter, gnashed his teeth together, even more irritated by the loud noise coming from the peeved cellist and abrasive police officer.

Leaving that future shitshow for later, I turned the nearest corner and searched for the nearest bathroom. I walked around, searching for a few seconds before I finally noticed three pairs of doors, all next to each other, with the one on the left painted a dull pink with a female figure on the front and the right door painted a dull baby blue with a male figure and the one next to the female bathroom painted a dull grey color, with a gender neutral sign on the front.

"Huh, who knew this academy was so progressive, neat," I was a bit too impressed with the bathrooms, if anything, "Thank god I got out of that mess."

"Hello? Is someone there?" a voice called out, a male one to be exact.

Spooked by the sudden voice coming from nowhere, I looked around the bathroom area and saw someone coming out of the male restroom, another boy this time. What surprised me about him was that he was in a wheelchair, pushing himself forward as he struggled to keep the door open.

"Here let me help you," I approached the door and held it open for him.

"Ah thank you very much!" the boy smiled cheerfully.

While he rolled his wheelchair out of the bathroom, I took note of his appearance and features.

He had sandy brown, shaggy hair that went past his shoulders a little and covered certain angles around his face, giving him that effortless look. What stuck out the most was that his right eyes was a milky white color and he wore a black eye patch over his left eye, with a good portion of the left side of his face covered in a large maroon birthmark, starting from the top of his forehead, continuing to go halfway down his cheek and ended near his jawline, with a small birthmark free portion on his cheek.

I didn't want to stare at his marks for too long out of respect, but there were some deep scarring tissues along the left side of his jawline covered by some of his hair. He had a completely average build, but surprisingly bulky arms and an upper body, most likely from pushing himself around in his wheelchair. The noticeable skin that wasn't covered by his birthmark was slightly tanned, almost bordering on pale.

He wore a dark green short sleeved sweater over a plain white t-shirt, along with acid washed jeans and black and white running sneakers on his feet. To finish off his simple but modern look, he wore a dark tan barn jacket with wool interior lining.

"No problem, dude," I responded casually, "They should have installed an automatic sensor for other handicapable people, but what can you do."

"I don't have much issues with it," he happily remarked, "I'm just astounded by how big this place is! It's quite exciting, don't you think?" he continued to detail his experience, "A new school always gives you that butterflies in your stomach feeling, you know?"

"Yeah, it was amazing," I laughed it off as well, "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what's your name?"

"And look how...big it is too!" he seemed lost in his train of thought before he heard me speak, " Oh...I forgot to introduce myself? Sorry about that. I'm **Daizo Hirai**, and I'm considered the **Crown Arachnologist**," he continued to greet me, "Yeah, that means spiders and all that freaky stuff."

**DAIZO HIRAI - CROWN ARACHNOLOGIST**

Huh, that's an oddly specific talent set to have. Judging from his outwardly appearance, bar his eyepatch and birthmarks, he looked like a normal teenager to me, so I guess it surprised me when he said that was his talent.

"Hmmm, nice to meet you Daizo," I responded in kind, "I'm Arihime Miyagawa, Crown Journalist."

"Ooh a journalist, that's really interesting," he smiled contentedly, not looking at me as we talked.

"Umm pardon me for asking, but can you see me?" I asked as delicately as I could, noting he was facing straight ahead and not at me, "I hope that's not offensive to ask?"

"No no no, you're good," he shook his head, but waved it off with a hearty laugh, "I'm actually blind so I don't really know where you are or what you look like, so I don't blame you for being confused."

"Alright, I uh...have messy long maroon hair, brown eyes, I guess fair skin and am wearing a sweater, skirt and flat shoes," I said, hoping to give him a good idea of what I looked like.

"Wow, you have such pretty features, I'm sure you look amazing," he seemed impressed by my bare bones summary, he's way too nice for his own good, "It's nice to get to know more about you too, Arihime."

My inner curiosity bubbled inside me, begging to know more, but I didn't want to seem invasive since he's already told me so much, so I just kept that to myself. It did make me wonder how he became blind in the first place, since it didn't seem that he was all that upset or anything.

"I'm sorry if I'm making you uncomfortable," he apologized, "I get that a lot from people."

"Oh no it's not you, I was just worried about our current situation is all," I evaded the line of questioning and moved to a new topic, "It seems that we've been tricked and we've been kidnapped."

"Oh really?" he looked surprised, "To be honest, I wouldn't have known either way as I've been wandering the halls for quite a while now, but that sucks." He fiddled around with something in his hands, I noticed it started to move too.

"Oh shit, is that a real spider!?" I jumped, backing away a few feet from him.

"Hahaha, it's alright, Juno won't bother you, she's such a sweetheart," the arachnologist smiled, the rose hair tarantula walked across his fingers as it turned to me, "She doesn't bite."

I would beg to fucking differ there. Spiders are nothing new to me, I've seen a lot of smaller spiders in the shower and some crawling on the ceiling of my apartment, but I've never encountered one like that in person. It's not that I was scared, I just get super jumpy if the spider is larger than my thumb is all.

"I see...n-nice to meet you too Juno," I waved shakily at the spider, it seemed to sit in place.

"What's that Juno?" he brought the spider up to his ear, as if he could speak with it like some kind of animal whisperer, "She says hi as well, and to keep your distance."

"Message loud and clear," I instinctively responded, afraid of pissing off the tarantula, "Wait, you can understand her?"

"Yes, in fact I know Juno has a particularly feminine yet motherly voice to her," he let the spider walk all over his head as if that wasn't the freakiest thing ever, "She's like a best friend to me, along with the other spiders I have at home, about one hundred species to be exact!"

Yeah that's a big old nope from me chief. I mean, he doesn't seem perturbed by the idea of sleeping in what I can assume is a decently accommodated spider cave, but I shouldn't judge. He seems to genuinely care for his spider, from how it casually played around in his fingers, but claiming he can understand it was a bit odd.

"Well anyway, I have to use the bathroom," I explained to him, "Catch you and Juno later, Daizo." I then fled inside the girl's restroom.

"Oh okay, later!" he waved, not realizing I had left as he wheeled his wheelchair down the hall.

It's not that I was afraid of the tarantula, definitely not. I just made a strategic exit is all, yeah, totally that. I ducked inside the girl's bathroom, hoping to clear my head from all the insanity so far and stepped inside taking note of everything inside.

It looked like any normal school bathroom, there were about three bathroom stalls inside but the doors were coated in a bright red color with black shiny handles. The sinks were marble granite countertops with elegantly designed silver faucets and three settings for the water; hot, room temperature and cold, with there being handles closer to the edge to accommodate for handicapable students.

The walls were tiled like pool floors with large white lines and magenta squares in each one and matched the bathroom floor. There were two hand woven baskets placed in between each of the four sinks, filled with disposable hand towels, luxury soap dispensers with the sweet smelling scents and sanitizers permeating the air inside and, lastly, there was a silver automatic opened trash can in the corner of the bathroom.

"Damn...even the bathrooms are high class," I walked in, impressed by how lavish it was, "This is like the pinnacle of bathroom cleanliness."

"Why thank you, I take pride in making everything look spick and span," an unknown female voice entered the mix.

I stopped in place, bewildered by the voice coming from the woman who was busy wiping down the granite sinks with what looked to be a clean white rag.

I assumed this woman worked here at the academy, judging from how she dressed and the fact she also restocked towels and changing the empty bags of hand soap.

Her muted black hair was fashioned into a wide messy bun with a fancy braided crown tied around the sides of her head, with many loose strands sticking out and some long side swept bangs framing her forehead and some straightened bangs framing the sides of her face. Her eyes stuck out the most to me; her left eye was a bright red color but her right eye was a plain black color contrasting with her rather simple look and butterfly eyelashes. Her lips curved into a small smile as there was some faint blush on her cheeks, but it looked natural so it was hard to tell if it was makeup or not.

Her fair clear white complexion was doll like, not a single mark could be found on her person. She was slender, but possessed very curvy hips and a quite ample bosom, with her fingernails neatly trimmed and coated in a clear white varnish.

She wore a long sleeved grey and white striped button up maid's shirt with the collar divided into little bumps and extending to her neckline and the sleeves fastened in place with black buttons. A plain black maid's apron with ruffle edges sat over her grey midi length skirt as I could see some white silk layers near the skirt's bottom along with black short heel boots on her feet. There was a gothic maid's headband perched on the top of her head, a black ribbon bow around her collar and I could see a few small cleaning supplies tucked into her apron's pocket.

I wasn't shocked this academy could afford to hire staff like this, I'm more concerned over the fact of her presence and if she knew why we were here. She seemed almost oblivious of the danger around her as she hummed a tune while wiping down the counter.

"Oh I didn't expect to see anyone else in here, my bad," I apologized, "Do you happen to know where I am right now?"

"Why of course, miss, you're at Crown Crest Academy," she smiled contentedly, not a single worry plastered on her face, "Where else would you be?"

"Umm okay…." I started to get a bit worried, "It seems we've been kidnapped and held hostage here, do you know if there's a way out of here?"

"Oh? Why would you want to leave?" she folded towels as she talked, "You just got here, Miss Miyagawa, what's the rush?"

"Wait, how did you know my name?" I genuinely asked, confused by her cryptic responses.

"It's my duty as a servant here to memorize all the names of all the wonderful students here," she curtsied towards me, "But where are my manners, my name is **Sophia Phillips**, but you can call me **Monomaid**."

**MONOMAID - SOPHIA PHILLIPS**

"Monomaid?" I titled my head, perplexed by her response, "So you do work here?"

"Yes I do miss," she answered politely, "I'm here to help you and everyone else at this academy feel just as comfortable as you would at home, I'm also the girls RA, aka the resident assistant, so if you ever need anything, don't hesitate to call."

"O-Okay….this is a little odd," I didn't know how to answer her unusual hospitality, "Mind if I use the sinks really quickly?"

"It's not a problem, miss, go right ahead," the maid stepped aside, smiling at me with her eyes closed, holding the half wet rag in her hand.

I approached the sink, turning the room temperature faucet, putting my glasses off to the side and splashed some water on my face, hoping that it might clear my head. I wiped my face with one of the clean towels Monomaid provided.

I felt her silent presence hovering over me, despite how quiet she was the entire time. I put my glasses back on and stared into the mirror, noticing that my hair was even more unkempt and messy than before.

"Would you like a complimentary bottle of lavender scented hand sanitizer?" Monomaid presented a small bottle of purple liquid to me in a neatly packaged container wrapped in a purple bow.

"No thank you," I was creeped out by her overly hospitable demeanor, freaked out even, "But it was nice meeting you Monomaid."

"The pleasure is all mine, sweetie," she curtsied once more, smiling widely but almost evilly at that, "I hope you enjoy your time here at Crown Crest."

Unsure of how to respond, I exited the bathroom. As soon as I was out that door I made a run for it. I don't know why I was running from her, I just had a gut feeling that she knew more than she was letting on, even if she put up the façade of a nice caretaker.

I wonder who else is also stuck here? Only one way to find out. I then left the corridor and ventured elsewhere, hoping to find out even more about this place and who else I would encounter.

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**A/N**: Hello there everyone, I hope you're all doing well. I hope that you're staying inside, social distancing, washing and sanitizing your hands and wearing masks, gotta stay protected.

I hope that this chapter helped ease the quarantine blues, I wasn't planning on getting a chapter out for this so soon, but I had too much energy and decided to write intros for the characters I've accepted so far, so I hope that's alright. Which characters stood out the most to you guys?

For those curious, the rest of the cast will be introduced periodically throughout the two months until the end of June. I will most likely accept two more OC's for May, but will finalize the rest of the cast when June is close to ending, so I hope that clears up any confusion regarding the cast.

Once again, many thanks to everyone who had submitted characters since my last update, they were all super fun to read about and I really appreciate all the forms I get, and it makes me happy that you all really like my concept and I hope to not disappoint anyone, I have big plans ahead and I can't wait to unveil them once I've decided the cast and finalized the major plot.

I have received a few new types of characters, but as usual the same suggestions apply. Like before, I might accept one more hot headed or pugnacious character, guy or girl, but for now I don't need anymore characters who fall into the aggressive, angry, cold, distant or anti-social category as I have a few of those already.

Also as last time, please refrain from making anymore pompous, snooty or princess-like girls, since as you've seen in this chapter, I have one and plan to accept maybe one more like her, but less uptight and stubborn if that makes sense. I know you all like sending your princesses to the fancy academies, but I would appreciate a more diverse cast of personalities to bounce off of each better.

For those curious, here are the suggestions, some are slightly edited, but pretty much the same as last time.

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**1**) Someone energetic, positive and over the top in their mannerisms, think Ibuki or someone rather manic and childish. I've seen a lot more negative types in the crowd and would love a more mixed balance between the two polar opposite emotions. Sprinkle in some comedic or zaney OC into the mix.

**2**) I love chuunis and the eccentric types, Crown Crest doesn't discriminate against people like them and I would love to see your guys take on what kind of wacky characters you have in store. Seeing characters with larger than life personalities and wacky beliefs and personalities that subvert their talent set is even better.

**3**) Someone a bit more snarky or smug. Someone more on the side of starting fights or drama just for fun or someone who is eager in the sense that they aren't afraid to jump into fights and cause havoc to prove a point. I've seen some people like that, but give the girls some love too if you can X3. Also, I would prefer that they either be willing to start a fight for fun, because someone slighted them or because someone looked at them funny and they just want to throw hands to assert their dominance or whatever.

**4**) I would also like someone who can be considered a rational, fatherly or motherly figure in the group, that one parent friend if you will (this also applies to brotherly or sisterly OC). Someone who's a bit more mature for their age and someone who doesn't tolerate anyone's nonsense and can hand down advice when in need and mediate a debate. Bleeding hearts, meek and mild mannered, strict but kind, it depends, but those characters are welcome too.

**5**) This one is a bit new, but I've seen a lot of character forms regarding OC who left HP or joined CC due to either discrimination or preconceived prejudices, that's totally fine, however I would love to see more subversions of the concept. For example, maybe your character was, in fact, one of the people who bullied or harassed some people in Hope's Peak or their prior school and they are looking to redeem themselves or escape their past mistakes to better themselves as a person or to get away from all the trouble and cause even more problems untethered. A shallow or selfish character or someone who is willing to change and redeem themselves as such.

**6**) Likewise, it'd be interesting to see characters who are not just discriminated against, but also those who are glamorized or fetishized to an unhealthy degree and are uncomfortable with the unwanted attention and affection. Someone who is more so praised for their talent, but they have amassed a cult fanbase that are obsessed with them to the point that they need protection in the form of transferring and the like. This can apply to their race, gender, sexuality, weight etc. but please be sensitive about the topic you are pursuing and do your research beforehand.

**7**) I've received some good OC's, but I would love to see more characters that are willing to be a mastermind or at the very least have motives that are in line with the sin of Gluttony. This sin doesn't have to be about overeating, but more so an overwhelming need or unsatisfied desire for something such as fame, power, money you name it. That being said, I already have some candidates lined up for the rival role, so I'm good in terms of rival-like characters, so please avoid making anymore rival concepts.

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Other than that, I don't have much else to say. I hope you all liked the first character intro chapter and if you have any further questions regarding OC ideas, I would be more than happy to help you plan out your character and decide on an idea for this story.

Once again, I love you all so much and hope you're staying healthy and happy during this crazy time and I will see you lovely folks in the next update or in June when I get to finishing up the rest of the roster.

Happy reading my fellow readers, authors and otaku alike. I wish you all the best and have a lovely day, night, holiday or whatever it is you are celebrating right now, things will get better, just remember to stay positive and we'll make it through this.

I will see you all next time, bye bye!


	4. Precious Crown Gems (Intros Pt2)

**Editor**: Crimson Spider Lily

Please look in the author notes near the end of the chapter for what kinds of OC I might need guys, I hope you all like this chapter, have fun UwU.

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With my thoughts piqued and my anxiety skyrocketing to new heights, I continued to venture off into the halls of Crown Crest Academy, the unknown dangers of each new hallway presented a new mystery that continued to itch at my journalistic ego even more. It had been very hectic, and might I add rude, first impressions to the school and meeting my other crown classmates didn't help assuage that frustration either.

Out of the blue I was kidnapped, met a familiar face in the form of that hardass police officer, Takeshi, and even met some new and disgruntled faces such as Carlotta, the self-entitled cellist and Arata, the grumpy exhibitionist who should really invest more of his time into his social skills.

Kuromi and Daizo seemed nice enough, so they didn't really affect my outlook of the situation in any way, aside from being eccentric in their own ways. Although as freaky as it was to see the arachnologist fiddling with a real life tarantula and chatting with it as if it were another living person, at least there were some people here who didn't come off as an asshole like the ones I mentioned earlier or creepily polite like the maid from earlier.

Monomaid, or Sophia I think was her name, seemed to be unaware or blissfully ignorant of the dangerous possibility that we were all being held hostage for ransom, that or she was secretly in on the plan as well and was just playing dumb to not seem overly suspicious.

Was she actually a staff member working for the academy? Or was she hired by the kidnapper to maintain the appearance that nothing was amiss and just to impersonate a staff member? Are the other staff here just as oddly cordial as she is? Are they cognizant of the current threat or is this part of a much dastardly and sinister plan?

Despite how short our interaction was, the maid's creepy smile lingered in my memory even more, coupled with her heterochromatic eyes to highlight how oddly robotic she seemed to be. I could tell she was human, but something about her just unnerved me even more, call it a gut instinct or women's intuition, something just didn't sit right with me. I felt like a stranger in these halls, even though I was supposed to be a registered student here.

I narrowed my way down another hallway, coming across someone else, a guy, leaning up against a wall and writing something down inside a black notebook. He seemed to be deep in thought as he jotted down more notes, in his own little bubble as if he didn't realize where he was or knew of the present threat looming over him.

He had shoulder length, curly, dark brown hair that messily rested against his shoulders, paired with round icy green eyes that looked like sparkling gemstones in the tacky wall lighting. He was thin, about average for a guy and his skin was pale as if he rarely went outside or stepped into the sunlight.

He wore a simple business casual like outfit that consisted of a white long sleeved shirt, underneath a grey trench coat, black slim jeans and brown lace up ankle boots on his feet. Accompanying his simple and rather plain look, he wore black leather gloves on both of his hands, there was a silver chain I could faintly see sticking out of the left chest pocket of his trench coat and the aforementioned notebook he was writing in with a black ink pen.

Nothing really much about him stood out, he looked completely normal. However I couldn't help but feel as if we had met before, his face was familiar, but I couldn't remember his name for the life of me, even though I'm pretty sure I've seen him already before.

"Is that who I think it is?" I walked closer to get a better look, "Didn't expect to see him here."

He continued mumbling to himself, his chin held up as he shifted his eyes from wall to wall, taking in his new surroundings as he closed the notebook and clicked his pen, stuffing it in his trench coat pocket. He then trained his sights on me as he started walking towards my direction, with an evenly pace.

"Well well well, look at what we have here!" he gestures at me with his gloved hand, "If it isn't my favorite reporter!" He approached me as I was taken aback by his sudden forwardness, "I have to say that I didn't expect to see you here as well."

I tried to process his greeting while also racking my brain for a brief moment to remember who he was. He didn't seem to stand out to me, but it was very hard for me to forget a face, so when I mused over it for a few more seconds, it clicked in my noggin.

"Hmmm...Oh right, Noob!" I remembered the pet name I had given him, "Long time no see, how have you been?"

"Nobuo, not Noob. **Akihiro Nobuo**." He sighed, rubbing his temple with his other gloved hand, before crossing his arms, "I'm good. I see you still have the same witty humor and snark as before, Arihime."

"It's a charming character trait of mine, trademarked, don't steal," I coyly smiled, winking at him, "It's been what….weeks, maybe a month? Since we've last seen each other? How's your consulting job working out for you?"

"Things have been good," he smiled, engaging me in small talk, "When people listen I mean, and don't just ignore what I have to say," he still had the same sly confidence I adored about him, "Speaking of jobs, how's your paper coming along?"

For a brief moment, my heart almost slid out of my chest. How did he know I was working on another paper so suddenly? God I hate when he does that, it's so freaky, but I admire his hustle.

"How did you know that?" I asked, slightly freaked out, "Did Elise blab about it on Chirper? Ugh I told them not to tell anyone!"

He raised his eyebrow, scratching the back of his head, "Huh, I could have sworn you worked as a newspaper journalist last time we talked….Wait a second!" he seemed to have figured me out, damn it, he's too smart. He smirked, leaning in as he lowered his voice, "Are you working on a paper right now?"

Me and my big fat fucking mouth. Way to go Arihime, you absolute idiot.

"Fuck….you caught me, yes I am," I started mentally beating myself up for that avoidable slipup, "Although, I will withhold some of the contents from you, Akihiro. On another note, what are you doing here at Crown Crest Academy? Doesn't your job pay you well?"

"I knew it," he chuckled lightly, amused by my overreaction, "Someone like you could never look past an opportunity as ripe as this, Arihime." He continued, "And if you must know, I was offered a spot here at the academy, as the next **Crown Consultant**."

**AKIHIRO NOBUO - CROWN CONSULTANT**

"Well congrats are in order, welcome aboard this shit fest we call a student orientation," I jokingly chuckled, "I see kindred spirits like us think alike…..even if we didn't leave off on the best note," I awkwardly continued, "Sorry for leaving you with that restaurant bill last time, I'm hard up for cash at the moment and I promise to pay you back tenfold, so please don't smite me."

"It's alright, water under the bridge," he waved his hand back and forth, "How about this, if we end up going out to eat together again, you pay for it next time." He smiled, leaning against the wall, "And I promise it won't be an expensive one."

Hmmm...why does that proposition sound so sketchy right now.

"Whatever, sure thing," I ignored the hidden intentions at play, "With this story, I'm sure Mr. Inoue will happily line his employees' pockets, granted he doesn't stupidly pocket the payment himself." I rambled on more than I should have, "I will say this, I really did have a fun time talking with you, Hiro. I didn't expect you to be so charming and suave."

"Never noticed it before? I am wounded, madam," he put the back of his hand over his forehead and a hand on his heart dramatically, before chucking to himself. "We should catch up sometime. I would love to hear what you have been up to lately."

"Playing catch up sounds like a neat idea….for later," I teased him further, "Right now is not the time for that though, you know, with us being kidnapped and all."

"Fair point," the consultant took out his pocket watch and looked at the time, "Hey by the way, can I stick with you for now? I don't like the idea of being alone here." He suggested calmly, "Unless you want to point me in the direction of other people that is," He crossed his arms, smirking proudly.

The temptation to send him on the warpath of Carlotta was enticing. Although it was nice to meet a friendly familiar face amongst all the chaos, so I decided to humor him for a while.

"Awww, are you lonely?" I mischievously smiled, "I don't mind having a silent partner tag along, granted you don't hover over my shoulder." I set my boundaries right then and there, "I should also let you know Aki that Takeshi, the police officer, is here too. Along with a kid in a wheelchair, two artists and one grumpy cellist."

The consultant looked back at me, putting his pocket watch away in his trench coat, noticing the scheming look on my face. I could never get anything past him, how does he do that?

"Duly noted, Kagohara and I have a lot to discuss later," he smiled, following that with a chuckle, "Right now, I might be a teeny tiny bit lonely," he uses his fingers to show a tiny bit, "And while they sound like a lot of fun, I think I would rather stick with you for now. At least till you get back to them."

"Are you sure?" I asked, surprised by his sudden interest in following alongside me.

"I make no guarantees though, however I will be silent, but I promise not to hover over your shoulder." He then extended his hand for me to take, "Deal?"

I clutched the strap on my messenger bag, mulling over his proposal for a few seconds. I'm not used to working alongside people on assignments, more so them just handing me the information and working with what I received, but what could it hurt to have an extra set of eyes and ears in the event something happens.

"Fine, you win, I at least owe you that," I extended mine out, shaking his as he did in return, "But leave the witty banter to me and you can be my straight man, or whatever you prefer," I stared into his eyes, "Gosh you are too cute for words. A little haircut would help with that, but no matter, follow me, my dorky Noob sidekick."

He stood there stunned for a second, processing what I just said, clearly not expecting it before shaking his head, "Right gotcha," He extended his arms past him, "Lead the way, and please remember you can call me Aki or Hiro. You don't have to say Noob…"

I started walking to another hallway as he followed alongside me, my lips curling into an impish grin, as I caught him off guard. If there's one thing I've known about him, it's that he's so much fun to fluster and tease.

"Aww, don't be so serious, frowns will give you wrinkles after all." I playfully jeered, "I was just teasing you is all, no need to fuss about it," I couldn't help giggling to myself as if I got a better grade than him on a test.

"God you won't stop calling me that will you. I have a feeling I am going to have to get used to that." He shrugged, brushing off my lame attempt at nicknames, "But you're right." He smirked. "I will find a way to tease you back later. I won't be defeated that easily." He stuck his tongue out at me.

"How cute," I hit him where it hurts, jokingly of course, "You're like a puppy dog in that regard," I brushed back some of my messy hair, blushing at the notion, "Although you seem to be hiding something under those sleeves of yours. I find it rather odd that someone of your caliber would jump at this opportunity, you always seemed smart, but why bother getting an education here?"

He didn't seem amused by my lame joke, "It's a notebook and it's actually in a coat pocket. But to answer your question, it's because my previous education at Hope's Peak is well...Well it has some baggage and I don't want to be a part of it." He eloquently detailed his experience to me. "I am sure you know what I am talking about."

"Oh, of course I do," I agreed, gossiping with him like before we parted ways, "It's an absolute nightmare over there, I don't blame you for transferring out, it's a smart move."

"No doubt about it, but what about you?" He gestured at me, changing the subject, "Why are you here? I thought you didn't like the idea of schools like this. Is this all because you want to get the scoop on Crown Crest? Look at you so committed to your work!"

"Darn, you found me out again, two for two." I clicked my tongue at his persistent questions, "To be honest, I just want to eat the fancy desserts in the cafeteria, lounge in my room all day doing my work and basically have people wait on me hand and foot to do shit I'm already too lazy to do myself," I humbly lied through my teeth.

"Is that so?" the consultant's eyebrow raised, not believing my fake story whatsoever, "Despite our short time together, I know you're a better liar than that, Arihime. Tell me the real reason why you accepted Watase's invitation."

"Ugh fine, to tell you the truth, it piques my interest so to speak," I puffed my cheeks out in boredom, "It's weird how this academy just up and popped out of the ground and no one said a single word about it's development or progress whatsoever."

I thought over it some more, "I know NDA's are a thing, but why bother hiding the engineering of a new pioneer school like this?" I sounded like a drunk storyteller with how wishy washy I was, "I was like shit, this is prime time bank, you know?"

"I get you, this entire project has suspicious written all over it," he agreed with my half-baked excuse.

"Plus, can you imagine the amount of luxuries these snobs will have? I just want a piece of the pie too." I gave him a half truth, "But despite it all, I couldn't help but feel weary, despite my enthusiasm. And being kidnapped didn't help ease my worries as you can tell."

"You didn't answer my question before on the scoop you're pursuing," he brought it back to that annoying question I hated hearing.

"Do I really need to explain myself?" I furrowed my brows, already annoyed, "Can't I just want to lap in the finest pleasantries life has to offer? While also half assing my way through school life here and pretending to get along with the other students?"

He laughed as if he heard me tell a funny joke, "Arihime, you're not the type to just lay around taking it easy. You're just as curious about this place as I am." He took a second to think over the rest of what I said. "I have to say I was pretty intrigued by why and how this school remained hidden as well. I don't remember anyone talking about it until it suddenly appeared. Normally people want some consultant work done on projects this big and I didn't hear a peep."

That's a good question, why didn't they consult him? After all he's the best in the business from what he's shown of his work. He seems capable despite his age, so that bothered me even more.

"It doesn't make a lot of sense," I agreed with him, "I bet you'd be the first one to pop in and assist them, but I guess it's a matter of pride for you," I suggested, playfully twirling a strand of loose hair, "I doubt Headmaster Watase will really tell us the real truth, but I'm hoping to get some one on one time with him...that is if we are able to find him or the way out of here that is?" I shook my head from all the white noise filtering in my mind, "Speaking of, did you get drugged and awoke in some strange room like I did?

He adjusted the collar of his shirt and looked a little embarrassed, "Y-Yeah I did, I woke up in one of the classrooms. I had a bit of a sweet tooth and the cookies at the front desk looked so good. It was the most humiliating moment of my life." He put a hand over his face, flushed with awkwardness, "God I can't believe I let it get the better of me. Never again after today."

"Ah I see, you fell for the same trick as I did," I laughed at how coincidental our situation was, "We really do have lots in common, it's almost scary." I sighed, chuckling at the oddity of it all.

I then heard noises coming from inside a set of double doors leading to the cafeteria in front of us.

"I think we'll have to put this conversation on the wayside for later, I hear some people talking inside," I went on ahead of him, shushing up to hear the voices, "Come on, follow me!"

"Ever the eager one she is," he said, following closely behind as I made my way inside.

We burst through the doors, greeted with what appeared to be one of the largest and most fanciest cafeterias known to man. I was almost starstruck by how elegant, yet astonishingly simple everything was.

There were rows of wide tables that could seat about eight people per table, adorned with fancy off white tablecloths, shiny silver cutlery and fine china plates all neatly placed against each other. Silver candelabras sat on each table, with unlit wax candles resting on each of the three stands along with random glass adorned flower vases to spice up the aesthetic of the place with white and yellow flowers as the centerpieces.

The chairs were similar to the ones I found inside the classroom, the same brown armchairs but adorned with golden yellow cushioning. They really didn't skimp any expense when it came to making the students feel satisfied, did they. I had half expected a clear glass view of the outside, but there was a large silk red curtain obscuring the view and I didn't pay much mind as there didn't seem to be a rope attached to either end, so I left it alone for now.

The kitchen was in the far back of the room and the lights inside were turned on, probably by one of the kidnapped students in here, and the cafeteria itself was arranged like a buffet style presentation. There wasn't any food to be seen inside each of the metal containers, but the very layout of it, seemed very elegant and something you'd see in every fancy establishment, from extra silver forks, spoons and knives, neatly placed napkins folded into crisp white swans, silver tongs to grab the desired food and extra sauce packets piled neatly atop the other along with multiple empty drink dispensers and fancy glass cups.

"Damn….just wow," I said in awe, astonished by how lavish it all was, "I feel like I've died and just went to heaven," I couldn't help but salivate at just the gorgeous scenery alone.

"You could say that again," Akihiro added, taking out the same notebook from before and jotting down even more notes, "Everything is presented a bit too ornately, if you ask me. But props to the interior designer, they sure went all out."

"This place is way too perfect to be the real deal," I rolled my eyes at his comment, "But don't mind me when you see me gorging myself on the food given to us here if this place is actually legit."

"Did you already forget about our situation?" he looked at me, disappointed with my sudden interest in the food, "Focus on the task, Arihime."

"Right, sorry," I shook my head out of the brief trance, "I'll go ahead and search for the voices, you can go scope this place out."

"You mean the voices coming from that one table over there?" he pointed his pen to a different direction as my gaze followed his'.

The consultant pointed to two people, a boy and a girl, both chatting with each other as if they were both unaware of the present danger lurking amongst them. In fact they seemed to be very enraptured in their conversation, at least that's how I perceived it.

The girl had dark pink wavy hair pulled into two bouncy pigtails that brushed against her shoulders effortlessly, with her bangs swept to the left side. Her narrow golden eyes were like shiny gold nuggets highlighted by mascara, black winged eyeliner and pink eyeshadow. Her full lips were painted in a dark pink lipstick and there was faint red blush on her cheeks, which gave her resting bitch face that pseudo-cakey clown vibe, with how intense it was applied on her face.

Her ears were also pierced with fancy, dangly, peacock feather earrings in each ear lobe. She was a fairly slender girl with lightly tanned skin and there was a peacock tattoo on the inside of her left wrist as she gestured to the boy next to her.

She wore a dark pink, silk button down shirt with the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, the two top buttons undone, revealing a silver peacock charm necklace around her neck. Her shirt was tucked into a brilliant dark blue, high waisted, pleated knee length skirt and each skirt pleat was decorated with silk peacock feathers. To finalize her rather colorful look, she wore black, closed toe heels and to further emphasize her resting bitch face even more, she wore a pair of dark pink, large framed glasses.

With the amount of peacock designs she was sporting, you'd swear she defeathered a live one just to get the right ones to match her look. Her look was very casual flamboyant, but she still had that air of elegance to her, much like with Carlotta.

Her sense of dress was fashionable, not something I'd wear, but she made it look effortless with how confidently she sat in her chair, her right leg atop her left as she talked with the boy next to her, who seemed to sport more athletic garb compared to her casual rich girl look.

He was a rather fair skinned, slightly olive-toned guy, who was about as tall as the average man, probably five feet nine inches tall. His body was toned with lean muscle, but he presented more feminine in appearance due to his slim build, despite how toned his arms, legs and body were. His heart shaped face was pretty to look at, no don't get distracted mid-description Ari, bad girl.

His upturned nose and plump pink lips stood out the most on his face along with his detailed long eyelashes which paled in comparison to his thin, slanted eyebrows which were a dark red color. His hair was the most outrageous, yet chic, aspect of his look, sporting what looked to be a bright, light pink color, reminiscent of pink lemonade atop his long messy hair with multiple strands sticking out in a spiky messy manner, making him and the peacock girl look like a matching couple when paired side by side. There was a faint scar over his right arm, but I didn't really pay it much attention, compared to his overall sporty outfit.

He wore a white sweatshirt under a dark red multi-pocket safari jacket, with a belt around the half point of his upper body. Near the bottom, he wore black capris shorts with black and white drawstring-waistband around them, with dark brown chukka leather shoes and black socks on his feet. For accessories, he wore a silver cross earring on his right ear lobe, a plaid tan scarf around his neck and a pair of charcoal-colored lens protective goggles atop his messy pink head.

He looked like one of those K-pop singers from one of the many popular Korean singer groups, with how effeminately handsome he was and how stylish his outfit was. If I didn't know any better, he and the peacock girl were probably dating given how similarly their outfits matched, in both presentation and color schemes alone.

"Catch you in a bit Noob," I waved to him as he was writing his notes, "Gotta meet my other classmates!"

"I told you not to- nevermind, see you later, Arihime," he said, walking over to one of the buffet lines to investigate them closer.

I approached the two chatty students, hoping to inch in on their conversation, the peacock girl turned her head towards me, somewhat displeased by me butting in, but maybe that's how she normally looked. The fashionable guy on the other hand, turned towards me and seemed surprised by my sudden appearance, but not disappointed.

"Oh? Who do we have here?" The peacock girl gestured at me, musing with an interested expression, "A new face in this eerie school, how quaint."

"Whassup, girl, how's it going?" the fashionable guy said, sounding like how I pictured any athlete from any exaggerated comedy show would be.

"Hello, it's nice to meet you both," I introduced myself accordingly, "My name's Arihime Miyagawa, I'm the new Crown Journalist, would you two mind if I picked your brains for a second?"

"Kinda seems like a strange time to begin that, wouldn't you think?" The peacock girl crossed her arms, looking piqued already, "Although I'm kind of bored right now, so I wouldn't mind humoring you, beats sitting around, waiting for something to happen."

"Yo seriously?" The guy looked at her, confused by her response, "I thought our conversation went well, at least I think it did?"

"Well you did do all of the talking, to be honest," she boldly said, adjusting her pink glasses to her face, "I didn't want to be upfront and tell you to take a hint, so I indulged you for a while."

"Well, screw you too then, bruh," the guy swerved away from her, defiantly crossing his arms, "I'm not that stupid, you just sent me a lot of mixed signals is all." He seemed super riled up for some reason, "It's not everyday you get to be stunned by my awesome presence."

"Whatever helps you sleep at night," the girl shrugged her shoulders, already bored with having to deal with him.

These two were sure going to be fun to talk to, she lied. It's bad enough Carlotta fulfilled that entitled and pompous bitch vibe, but this girl just radiated this haughty smugness to her that slightly irritated me for some reason. This dude on the other hand, seemed kind of chill, even if he sounded like an easily riled up jock who probably needed help in math class more than twice.

"Ummm...not to interrupt your riveting conversation," I waved to get their attention, "Can you give me your names at the very least?" I asked, hoping to know before they completely shut me out of their argument.

"It would be my pleasure, sweetie, **Aoki Yasumi**, **Crown Jeweler**," the peacock girl confidently stated, looking at me with curious eyes, "Did you need anything else?"

**AOKI YASUMI - CROWN JEWELER**

"Umm..I guess," I mused over what to ask her and the other guy, "Unless you have something else better to do? You may not look like it, but you appear quite bored already, so I'm sorry if I'm wasting your time."

"Whatever gave you that impression?" she chuckled with an amused smile, that sense of smug politeness seeping through her snide expression, "I'd much rather be chatting with you or maybe Harlan, if that big log is even here that is."

It seemed my snark got to her bit, judging from her raised eyebrows and confident look on her face. The guy next to her smirked at her expression, almost impressed by what I said.

"Nice one brah!" he licked his finger and mimicked a burn sound effect, "Almost forgot, the name's **Anastasiy Vasiliev**, **Crown Zipliner**," his pearly white smile flashed brightly at me, "If it's too long a name, then just call me Anasta or Ana, kay."

**ANASTASIY VASILIEV - CROWN ZIPLINER**

He may sound like a douchebag, but at least he had the decency to put up a smile when meeting me. Aoki, while she appeared polite and somewhat friendly, seemed to be waiting for someone from the mention of this Harlan person, who I've not met yet. She was probably waiting for him to show up, at least I assume it's a guy from his name alone.

It's kinda hard to gauge what she's like. She seems like a trendsetter type of girl, from how colorful and eccentric her outfit was, but she had that same smug nature of any rich elitist types. Granted she was a jeweler, so that was kinda expected. Anastasiy on the other hand seemed a lot more chill compared to her, even if he sounded like a vapid, human run off sentence.

"Pleasure is all mine," I nodded in kind, trying to maintain my cool, "Do either of you two know how you got trapped here? Did you get drugged like I did?"

"Are you for real?" the zipliner looked at me as if I was talking in a foreign tongue, "Bruh, I got inside the limo and dude let me tell you, the tunes in there were pumping. GreyRose is my shit!" He mimicked listening to music, casually referencing a K-pop group, "Although I did fall asleep after hearing the music for some reason, it was totally freaky, like something out of a horror movie."

"So you were hypnotized in a sense by the music and woke up here, I presume?" I asked, taking note of his experience.

"Yeah Ari, I was like, tackled by someone and woke up in the kitchen. I found Aoki over here passed out in one of the chairs," he snickered at the thought, "It was tough just waking her up and calming her down, she seemed scared and she was drooling the entire time."

"For your information," the jeweler jumped into the conversation, somewhat offended due to her wounded pride, "I was told by Headmaster Watase that there would be chocolate cake here and I couldn't resist. He just told Harlan and I to wait in the lobby. Moments later some intruder swiped a chemical rag over my mouth and I passed out."

"Pardon me for interrupting, but who is this Harlan guy you keep mentioning?" I asked, curious myself, "Is he a friend of yours? Your boyfriend perhaps?"

The jeweler just giggled, although there was an uncomfortable pause in between laughs, "He's just an old friend sweetheart, it's nothing for you to worry about," she glared at me with an uncomfortable grin.

"Okay then…." I exited that conversation, her grin hinting that I should avoid that line of questioning, "So I'm to assume you two just recently woke up, is that it?"

"That would be correct," Aoki nodded her head, "I'm quite bored without Harlan's company, but I'm sure that big oaf is still snoring away in some broom cupboard somewhere. He always was a heavy sleeper."

"Hah, I'd love to see that," Anastasiy chuckled to himself, "I wish I had my phone on me, it'd get a ton of likes on Snapgram!" he joked, "Man, why'd those kidnapper jerks have to steal it? That's so lame."

"Most likely to prevent us from contacting outside help," I suggested, which should have been plainly obvious, "It's basic kidnapping 101, have you not seen a single action movie?"

"Well uh...fair point," he rubbed the back of his head, "I guess they were just too scared of me to face me one on one."

"Heh, I should have brought my taser or some pepper spray with me," Aoki put her finger to her lips, "I guess that's my fault for being careless, but it doesn't matter now." She seemed a bit antsy to leave the cafeteria, "I wonder if there's anything fun to do around here, it's so awfully dull here."

The jeweler then sat up, dusting off her blue skirt and made her way out of the cafeteria, walking confidently as her heels clicked, echoing around the room.

"Ciao Ari, I'm gonna go off exploring for now," she winked at me, "Catch you later."

"Bye..I guess?" I waved to her, "So uh..what are you going to do now, Anasta?"

"I don't know about you man, but I'm gonna go take a fat dump," he casually said, too much information right there, "Peace out," he made a peace sign as he said that.

The zipliner followed suit and left the cafeteria, leaving me by myself as I remembered seeing the kitchen lights on from earlier. I saw Akihiro jotting down more notes as he noticed the two of them leaving, curious about them as well.

I signalled to him that I got it covered and he sighed, probably realizing how suave I was in that conversation, before he continued to analyze the room some more, heading over to the large curtains. I made my way to the kitchen, pushing open the white swinging door and was greeted by your standard kitchen setting, which looked similar to ones you'd see in a restaurant.

It wasn't as magnificent as the other places, everything from the fridges, cabinets, stove tops and ovens were all functional, organized and neatly cleaned. The counters were marble granite tops, the drawers were a pure white color with knives inside knife holders, kitchen utensils hanging atop a metal rack above one of the stove tops, pots and pans lined the walls and there was a wide sink shaped like a crown at one end of the room.

Aside from the kitchen, I noticed two people inside, another boy and girl, but this time they didn't interact with each other as the girl stared at the open fridge in front of her and the boy, next to her, stood like a statue with a plastered smile on his face, almost awaiting a command from her.

She was about average height, probably the same height as me, so five feet five inches tall. Her scruffy off, short, pale blue hair ended just above her shoulders with her wide light pink eyes with large black pupils staring almost intensely at the fridge, coupled with a dead expression that looked as though someone sucked all the life from her face with a bendy straw given her pale complexion and rosy cheeks. To fit with her average height, she was also an average build and there wasn't anything else to note there.

Her hair's fringe evaded her eyebrows, with two sections of her brows dyed a darker silver color, with both sections of her fringe trailing past two ears and one brushing against the ridge of her nose before ending there. Her hair flared out behind her, slightly curling upwards around her, making it look like some weird blue cloud with how it was styled and it didn't reach past the nape of her neck.

She wore a silvery grey button up shirt beneath a shoulder-less pastel blue sweater with a round grey kitten sleeping amongst a patch of flowers knitted as the front design. The sleeves are bunched up around her wrists, but the button up shirt's sleeves still covered her hands, with mostly her fingers poking out of them. A short pastel pink pleated skirt rested beneath her sweater, there was a loosely worn banana yellow necktie dangled loosely from her collar, reaching down to her thighs with the tie brandishing a single smiley face on the knot of the tie.

She wore 80's striped slouch socks that transitioned from pastel blue, yellow and pink colors over a pair of pastel blue trainers with white laces and cute cartoon bunny characters on their heels on the sides of her shoes. Atop her mess of hair, she wore a grey knitted cat beanie with two large cat ears sewn near the top, giving her that cute and adorable vibe.

She carried a white satchel bag around her person with the clasp as a smiling face button, with multiple different stickers all over the bag that ranged from emojis to cute sanrio-style designs. Fitting with the cutesy theme, she had four stickers on a small empty section of her sweater's torso, the biggest of the four being a laughing crying emoji, with a thinking emoji below it, a heart eyes emoji next to that one and a cute pusheen cat on the bottom. To finish off her look she sported Hi Catty stickers on her tie.

Her entire appearance reminded me of those cute harajuku models I saw doing photoshoots on the streets of Shinjuku, very pastel like and vibrant with excessive colors and decorations. She looked as though a rainbow and a unicorn had both vomited all over her outfit and she seemed fine with it from the get go. I then turned my attention to the guy, and compared to her, he was by far the most normal looking in terms of appearance and dress.

His raven black hair was slicked back with some longer strands swept to the left side of his face giving him that formal rugged look with short bangs framing the sides on his cheeks. Much like with Monomaid, this guy had the same almond shaped eye color scheme; left red and right black with thin arched eyebrows.

His fair lightly tanned skin was clear, minus for the small mole underneath his left eye. He was around average build, probably a bit on the skinny side and looked to be in good, healthy shape.

He wore a formal suit that consisted of a pressed pure white long sleeved dress shirt with the buttons and collar all buttoned up, a sleek black tie fastened around his neck and a black butler's jacket over the shirt with the ends forming into two long coattails with golden buttons buttoned up, revealing a silk grey waistcoat with plain white buttons over the shirt.

He had a golden pocket watch chain resting inside the right pocket of his pressed black formal pants. On his feet were polished shiny black dress shoes with a mirror's shine along with black ankle socks and to finish his look, he wore pure white gloves on both of his hands.

He looked to be some kind of servant, probably a butler. If Monomaid was anything to go by, he probably worked here as well judging from the overly polite and creepy smile plastered on his face as he watched the pastel stickered girl listlessly stare off into the cold fridge's embrace.

"Uhh...hello there?" I hailed out to them, hoping to get their attention, "What's going on?"

"Ah, welcome miss Miyagawa," the butler noticed me, approaching me with a silver tray of refreshments in his hand, "Sparkling or regular water?"

His sudden polite greeting caught me off guard as I was busy distracted with what the girl was doing, it seemed she hadn't heard me judging from how she perused the fridge with as little energy as possible.

"Not right now, thank you," I shrugged the butler off.

"Very well, I will await your answer," he responded formally, yet curtly.

"Hello?" I walked over to the girl's side, "Earth to rainbow girl!" I waved my hand over her face hoping she'd see me.

"You don't need to do that…." she tiredly said, "I already heard you, so what's the point."

Her listless and dead expression, coupled with her monotone voice, clashed horribly with her rather incongruent outfit choices. She grabbed a fruit granola bar from inside the fridge and began eating it without a care in the world, as if me greeting her was a minor inconvenience.

"Well you didn't respond, so I just naturally assumed you didn't hear me," I pointed out to her, "Do you know where you are?"

"LOL, sure I do," she robotically said, inserting a text phrase into regular conversation, eww she's that person, "Isn't this where teenagers go to get a higher education."

The very fact she's speaking like a social media influencer's online persona, but had the enthusiasm of a cheerleader suffering from sleep withdrawal and depression, confused me even more than the other things I've seen already. Not an inch of an expression creeped on her placid countenance as she continued nibbling on the granola bar.

"I suppose that's one way to look at it," I awkwardly continued, "I was going to ask you if you knew how you got here, but nevermind. Can I have your name?"

"KK," she continued to speak monotone, with cringy ass internet slang spliced in, "My name is **Mie Asakura**. That's Mi, E, then Asa, and Kura. According to this school, I am the **Crown Press Agent**."

**MIE ASAKURA - CROWN PRESS AGENT**

"I think I've heard of you," I scoured my brain's files for where I remembered her from, "Your dad's that new indie animator who started his own studio, Hiro Asakura, I remember typing an article on his new studio's presence and ongoing cartoons."

"That's the one," she plainly said, finishing the granola and tossing the wrapper in a bin with as little effort as she could, hovering over the floor before butler boy picked it up and tossed it in the bin with a creepy smile on his face, "You have a name as well, and I'd like it if you told me yours, and what this school considers you to be the crown jewel of."

"Well it's very nice to meet you Mie," I offered a hand to shake hers, "I'm Arihime Miyagawa, Crown Journalist."

"Hmm…" she plainly mumbled, pulling out a mask from her satchel bag, it was a crying laughing emoji mask, "That's like totes a wicked talent!" her dour words mixed with her attempt at sounding hip was making me regret being born in this digital age or maybe this century.

"Umm...why did you pull out an emoji mask?" I asked the press agent, slightly weirded out.

"Humans express their feelings in all different forms," she pulled out a thinking emoji mask and put it over her face, "With the collection of over thousands of pictured emoticons, you use this to convey all sorts of emotions, is that not true?"

"I guess that's one way to look at it," clearing my throat, before continuing, "Did you get kidnapped as well?"

"I gathered as much lol," she removed the mask in favor of a pulling out a rolling eyes emoji sticker, "I was invited here because I was offered a position as a student here alongside having a part time job of working as one of their PR agents." She plainly stated, "Wouldn't you consider it rude not to accept such a courteous invite?"

"So you weren't drugged or taken captive?" I was even more baffled by how calmly she was taking this, "How?"

She indifferently shrugged, "I fell asleep on a bench, I woke up on a couch in the hallway. What else do you want me to say?"

Mie wasn't uncivil by any stretch of the word, but her placid demeanor and robotic way of speaking made me want to exit out of this conversation as fast as I could, before I fell asleep out of sheer boredom and my legs giving out from lack of blood flow.

"If you've no further questions…." she yawned sleepily, walking out of the kitchen without saying goodbye, leaving me alone with the overly hospitable butler.

"She must be fun at parties…." I jokingly remarked, rolling my eyes, "And what are you doing just standing there, my well dressed acquaintance?"

"Whatever do you mean miss?" he seemed puzzled by my response, "I am but a humble servant here to serve you and the others."

"But do you have to creepily stand there like a statue watching me like some stalker?" I furrowed my brow at his candid response, "Nevermind, I assume you're also a staff member here."

"You would be correct miss, pardon my informal callousness for not introducing myself sooner," he rested the silver tray on the granite countertop, bowing courteously, "**Curtis Dupuis**, but please call me **Monobutler**, at your service."

**MONOBUTLER - CURTIS DUPUIS**

Sweet heck, this is getting even more freaky and ominous by the second. First a maid and now a damn butler, what's next? A crazy groundskeeper telling me to beware of heading out into the dark forest alone without a flashlight or some shit?

"Alright Monobutler," I looked at him with a disgruntled smile, not wishing to question the oddities further, "I'd love some regular water, please."

"Right away miss Miyagawa," he bowed formally, pouring a fancy nameless brand water bottle into a fancy drinking glass, "Would you like me to prepare you a snack while we're here?"

"No thank you…" I was stumped for words by his politeness, "Forgive me for asking, but do you really, honest to god, work here?"

"Yes I do, miss Miyagawa, I am also in fact the boys RA, or the resident assistant," he stood as tall as a tree, his eyes and slice smile trained on me, "If you'd like, I can contact Sophia and have her be-"

"N-No thanks, I uh...already ran into her earlier," I shook my head, "This is gonna sound crazy but….I think we're all trapped here at the academy."

"Trapped?" he chuckled as if I told a super funny joke, "I think you are mistaken, you were cordially invited here to be a part of this fine establishment, miss. I haven't the faintest idea of why you would conceive that notion."

"I know but...I uh…" his overly courteous demeanor just infuriated me even more, knowing that he and Sophia were just playing mind tricks on me, "You know what, fucking forget what I said, I'm going to get some fresh air." I marched towards the door in a huff.

"But miss?" he called out to me, extending his gloved hand out, "You forgot to finish your beverage."

I then marched right back in and drank from the water glass. It's cool, yet plain, refreshing taste quenched the last bit of frustration in my system as I felt slightly reinvigorated for more zaney nonsense. It had been a while since I had anything to drink, so this was very much needed.

"Tasty. Bye," I marched right back out, before witnessing Monobutler give me another smug smile before leaving, bowing accordingly.

"Please miss, the pleasure is all mine," he bowed elegantly, heading over to the sink to wash the glass, "We do hope you enjoy your stay."

I sped walked out of the kitchen, ten times as worried and twice as fearful that he was going to pull out a knife from one of the holders on me for asking too many nosy questions like I did with the maid.

This place just keeps getting stranger and stranger. I hope that that's the last of the crazies in this already motley cast. I don't think my already unhealthy heart can take any more surprises.

* * *

**A/N**: Hi there everyone, so lovely to see you all again for this wild month of May and welcome to Spring time, yay! I hope you all are doing well and are feeling slightly better, despite the dreaded hornets, pandemic and seasonal changes occuring at this very moment. Remember to wash your hands and social distance everyone, gotta make sure we fight this virus together! X3

I bet you weren't expecting another chapter so soon considering my last update was in April when I revealed some of the characters already. Well this time I've decided to integrate the next character intros in the form of a new chapter, instead of a small update, so I hope that's alright, consider it a present to you all for supporting me in my efforts despite how lazy and inconsistent I can be sometimes lol.

I hope that this chapter entertained you as much as I had a helluva time writing it. Let me tell you, some of the intros were hard to write, but I was able to make it work in the end.

Without further ado, please welcome:  
**Akihiro Nobuo, Crown Consultant** created by **WhiteReaper4**,  
**Aoki Yasumi**, **Crown Jeweler** created by **Ziggymia123**,  
**Anastasiy Vasiliev**, **Crown Zipliner** by **RioA**  
and **Mie Asakura**, **Crown Press Agent** created by **Scissor-Snipper**.

Thank you all so much for sending me your lovely characters, I'm proud to accept them into my new take on an old story and I wish your characters all the luck in the upcoming few chapters. Welcome to Crown Crest Academy you four, we hope you have a lovely time here, it may be your last…..

Now that I've gotten the May updates out of the way, the rest of the cast will be introduced when the deadline ends in late June, close to early July at the latest for those who need time to finish their forms.

This gives me a window of time to focus on my other stories as well as my classwork since I'm currently in the middle of a new mini semester right now, so if some chapters aren't as frequent or delivered in a timely manner, that's why, so I hope you guys understand.

I'm so happy with the new types of characters you all have been sending me, each one is unique in their own special way and to those who sent multiple OC, I loved your dedication to sending me your concepts and I can't wait to see what June brings as well. I'd love to accept all of them, but unfortunately I can't do that without going nuts again XD.

In terms of character suggestions, I've received quite a few select personalities and I'm thankful for all of them. As of right now, I do not need anymore hot headed, angry, pugnacious, cold, distant, anti-social, manipulative or scheming types of characters.

I've noticed that this fandom loves to make those kinds of characters and while I appreciate their forms, I would love a more diverse and less negative minded cast of characters if that makes sense. A few more positive or humorous minded characters might help to balance it out.

So avoid sending anymore characters who can be considered those types. Likewise avoid making any more rich, pompous or snobby like girls, I've had my fill of them for a while lol. I know this academy attracts people like them, but I would prefer a more diverse cast of characters and personalities, if that makes sense.

For those curious, here is the updated list of suggestions for characters I'd like to see:

* * *

**1**) Like with last time, I would love to see more characters who are considered energetic, positive and over the top in their mannerisms, think Ibuki or someone rather manic and childish. Since this last update, I've received a lot more negative or aggressive types of characters and I would love a more mixed balance between the two polar opposite emotions, heck you can even sprinkle in someone with a dark sense of humor if you'd like. Some comedic or zaney OC brought into the mix, could help spice things up too.

**2**) I love chuunis and the eccentric types, Crown Crest doesn't discriminate against people like them and I would love to see your guys take on what kinds of wacky characters you have in store. Seeing characters with larger than life personalities, wacky beliefs and over the top personalities that subvert their talent set is even better in my opinion. Just as long as they aren't someone with a cold or overly negative mindset.

**3**) I would love more outgoing or open minded characters. This is in contrast to the more hot headed ones I've seen lately and if I had some characters who could more or less act as the chill, best friend like or calm one in the group, which might help to mediate any conflict in the future. This type can be humorous and zaney or laid back, either one works, they can even have a smug personality, as long as they are mostly chill. Your character can be shy or timid but not cold or distant.

**4**) I would also like someone who can be considered a rational fatherly or motherly figure in the group, that one parent friend if you will (this also applies to brotherly or sisterly OC). Someone who's a bit more mature for their age and someone who doesn't tolerate anyone's nonsense and can hand down advice if needed. Bleeding hearts, meek and mild mannered, strict but kind, it depends, but those characters are welcome too.

**5**) This one is a bit new, but I've seen a lot of character forms regarding OC who left HP or joined CC due to either discrimination or preconceived prejudices, that's totally fine, however I would love to see more subversions of the concept. For example, maybe your character was, in fact, one of the people who bullied or harassed some people in Hope's Peak or their prior school and they are looking to redeem themselves or escape their past mistakes to better themselves as a person or to get away from all the trouble and cause even more problems untethered. A shallow or selfish character or someone who is willing to change and redeem themselves as such. While it is nice to see characters fleeing from danger, it would be fun to see some of the accused join to escape future scrutiny.

**6**) Likewise, it'd be interesting to see characters who are not just discriminated against, but also those who are glamorized or fetishized to an unhealthy degree and are uncomfortable with the unwanted attention and affection. Someone who is more so praised for their talent, but they have amassed a cult fanbase that are obsessed with them to the point that they need protection in the form of transferring and the like. This can apply to their race, gender, sexuality, weight etc. but please be sensitive about the topic you are pursuing and do your research beforehand.

**7**) I can safely say that I've found a few good characters who can fill major roles such as rival, helper and potentially be the Gluttony mastermind. However I've also noticed you guys like to make a lot of well...guys XD. That being said, I would love to see more GIRLS to help even out the submissions balance as I've noticed a ton of recent submissions have been guys. I'm not saying can't make guys, but I would love to see more girls get submitted as to help broaden the submissions pool, and if you're interested, you can make a non-binary or transgender character, I don't mind writing those kinds of characters either.

* * *

Other than that, those are the new suggestions listed and if you guys have any further questions, feel free to ask me in the PM's or via my Discord, just ask me for the invite and I'll hook you up if needed. Please do not send me OC forms in the reviews, it ruins the mystery behind your characters.

Also in regards to the forms, if your OC was not at Hope's Peak, then you do not need to fill in the 'why they transferred' section of the form in the beginning or leave it blank. And to those wondering about the 'how would they feel to be tricked by the revelation' that basically means, how would they act to finding out the school was a scam or ploy in essence.

I hope that provides you all with some clarity, as I've seen some forms say they don't know how to respond to those questions and such.

I love you guys so much and thank you once more for supporting my story and all my endeavors during this harsh time. 2020 is such a bitch right now and I can safely say that I'm almost fed up with quarantine and I'm an introvert XD. Before I go, I'd love to plug some other SYOC stories while I'm here:

**Danganronpa: Remnants Of My Heart** by **yours truly**, the deadline is Late August 2020.

**Danganronpa: Lights, Camera, Murder!** By **DancingCactuar** it's a collab SYOC the two of us are working on, so be sure to send your forms to Cactuar's profile and not mine.

**For Whom The Rabbits Mourn** by **Sanity Requiem**, the mad lass herself who can drive anyone to despair, be sure to support her series as well, she's an amazing writer.

**Danganrona: Fresh Meat** by **mandipokemon**, this is their second SYOC and they've even finished their first story within a year, and I highly recommend you check it out. they don't joke around with their writing speed, I love their story and I'm sure you guys will too.

**Danganronpa: Etch it Into my Heart** by **RioA**, she's already finished one SYOC and is close to finishing her second one, and she's an amazing writer as well, be sure to support her guys.

**Dead Zeppelin** by **Orlando Butler**, I can say that I love his character writing and go show him some love as well you guys, he's such a cool guy.

Now that I'm done shilling for my friends, I hope you guys have a wonderful week and I hope you have a lovely day, night, holiday or whatever it is you are celebrating right now. Happy reading my fellow authors, readers and otaku alike, I wish you all the best in the second quarter of 2020 and let's hope we can finally go outside in a few months time lmao.

That's all I have to say for now and I will see you all in the next update or whenever I post next, bye bye!


	5. Precious Crown Gems (Intros Pt3)

Sauntering out of the kitchen with a brisk pace in my step, I pushed open the kitchen doors to escape the creepily polite butler's clutches. It seemed that the supposed staff working here were just as oblivious to the current threat as was the school's headmaster. It was a long rollercoaster ride of questions that just kept slapping me in the face one at a time.

What struck me as odd was that Headmaster Watase seemed a bit disgruntled from earlier, if not way too casual about things, if somehow missed this oversight. He looked quite pleased to have welcomed me to his school, but taking that phone call seemed to have left a sour taste in his mouth, as if someone told him his dog had just died.

I wondered what the other caller said that made him so anxious and in a hurry to escape introductions. He's very handsome, if not a bit eccentric, but I can imagine running a school like this would be pretty tasking, if it's anything similar to Hope's Peak, sans the architectural structure.

Did he know that this was going to happen? How was he able to get away with kidnapping us like this? Was he aware of this entire scheme? Was this all some elaborate human sized mouse trap meant to lure us with it's false sense of security? If we're not meant to be students here, why are we here to begin with? Where are the other students for that matter?

Come to think of it, if somehow this school's concept was one giant scam from the very beginning or some front for an illegal trafficking ring, that potential article would have me set for life. The press would eat up this scandal like an all you can eat buffet and it'd be the talking point of the century, if I managed to find out more information and get the heck out of here.

Until then, I resumed the search, pondering where to venture next as I felt the grim silence pervade through the largely vacant, yet opulent, cafeteria.

"Ugh, goddamnit! Nothing makes any fucking sense around here," I rattled my brain for a bit, ruffling my already messy hair, "I'm too exhausted to care anymore, time to move on. I wonder what Noob is doing right now? Probably raiding the cabinets or something."

Without paying much attention to my surroundings, I walked around the cafeteria, suddenly bumping into something and falling flat on my butt. The rude awakening was enough to agitate me even more, as I felt my ass slap against the hard tiled surface. Please don't take that line out of context.

"Oof!" a voice cried out, obviously a female's voice, "Ahhh…."

"Shit," I swore, rubbing my tush to ease the pain, "Fuck me….what a day."

I shook my head out of my brief daze, looking up to see who I had unfortunately happened upon and came face to face with another girl, a new face amongst this already motley crowd of characters. The first thing that caught my eye about her was that she was very pretty, a natural beauty with a tinge of tiredness to her look that almost took me by surprise.

She was slender with very defining, almost frighteningly, skinny features including defined cheekbones and a thin jawline that would make anyone worry for her physical health and well being. It wasn't my place to judge or comment on anyone's looks, so I didn't pay it much mind to anything else. Despite that, she still looked to have some muscle definition in her frame, almost like a strong twig that was in danger of snapping in half from a faint breeze.

Her pale white skin was blemish free, but despite her natural beauty, she didn't have a natural glow to her that made her stand out as much. Her cotton candy pink hair was tied up into two long twin tails on both sides of her head, with some stray strands framing the sides of her face and rather uneven bangs that fell just above her eyes and small white roots in her hair that gave her pastel hair a crystal sugary effect. Her golden eyes were captivating, but looked hollow judging from the black circles underneath, only accentuating how widely they were shaped.

The thing that stood out the most about her was that there was a light orange heart shaped eyepatch over her right eye, with faint scarring around the edges of the patch, covered with some foundation. A half star shaped bandage covered up the bottom of her left cheek, almost as if she were purposely trying to hide those parts of her face, or that she genuinely liked bright stickers. Her hands were wrapped in wrap bandages and multicolored band-aids wrapped around her fingers, as if she suffered from some kind of burn related cooking injury.

She wore a white chef's jacket with light blue accents on the buttons, collar and cuffs of her jacket, with a light yellow star patch in place of where a breast pocket would normally be. A light blue apron skirt tied at the waist fell to her mid thighs, with a light orange heart patch in the left hand corner of the skirt's hem, accompanied with black spandex shorts which went below the edge of the skirt. And lastly on her feet were light pink thigh high boots, with the right boot matching her skirt's orange heart near the top opening and the left boot adorning a light yellow star, contrasting with the heart.

"I'm sorry for that, I wasn't looking where I was going, my bad," I apologized, sighing at how embarrassing it all was, "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, uh..it's not your fault….I should have been paying more attention as well," she calmly said, a lilting voice that was soothing to the ears.

I stood up from my fallen position, dusting off my skirt and offered her my hand, but she declined it, standing up on her own with shaky footing. I felt bad for inconveniencing her, but something about her struck me as familiar, like seeing someone you knew a long time ago while shopping at the grocery store.

"Excuse me, but have we met before?" I asked, squinting my eyes at the girl's unusual appearance, "You look familiar to me, I just can't put my finger on it."

"Oh, I uh...well if you've watched a lot of cooking shows…I guess I'm pretty well known as it were," she nervously laughed, her good eye blinking briefly, "Are you familiar with the dessert show 'Sweeten My Day' perhaps?"

It took a few moments to process the girl's overall look and what she said, before the mental puzzle pieces started putting themselves together in my head. I knew I recognized that face and outfit from somewhere, or maybe I'm just a dumbass misremembering things like usual.

"Oh right!" I slammed my fist into my hand, looking at her in the eye "I've seen that show multiple times when I'm multitasking or writing my articles," my eyes bulged out in shock, a friendly smile brandished on my face, "Aren't you that famous candy sculptor prodigy who has her own cookbook?"

"Heh, I guess you can say that," she smiled warmly, a faint chuckle could be softly heard, "Hi, I'm **Hina Shimizu**, the **Crown Amezaiku Artist**, it's so nice to meet you."

**HINA SHIMIZU - CROWN AMEZAIKU ARTIST**

"Ahhhh, now I know who you are," a light bulb flickered in my mind, "You're that former child celebrity chef on 'Toddlers and Pots' that famous kids cooking show. I loved watching your episodes! I'm hoping that your other show 'Amateur Cuisine' gets a second season! I can't believe you're in the same grade as me!"

"Wow, I didn't expect to meet such an avid fan in person like this," she brushed back some of her pink hair, flushed in embarrassment, "I guess this isn't really the opportune time for autographs, though."

"Huh? Oh I'm sorry, Hina." I shook my head, forgetting where I was for the moment, "My name is Arihime Miyagawa, I'm the new Crown Journalist. Pardon me for fangirling there, I just really love your work, my mouth waters every time you work on another candy sculpture. That one episode with the koi fish and candy seaweed, marvelous work!"

"I see….well I'm glad I was able to touch your heart, even a little," she seemed almost despondent, a little overwhelmed, as she said that, "Do you happen to know what's going on, Arihime? I woke up inside the Nurse's office and I don't remember much before that."

"I'm pretty much in the same boat as you and the others Hina," I put my finger to my lips, "You look a bit tense, do you want to sit down for a while?"

"Oh...I'm alright, but thank you for your concern," she smiled once more, trying to reassure me, "I've only come across a few faces so far, but I didn't want to intrude in their conversations. One girl kept yelling at a police officer while I was wandering the halls, it looked pretty intense."

"Oh….you mean Carlotta," I sweatdropped at the mere mention of her name, "Yeah she's uh….a little full of herself, and that's putting it very lightly."

"I see…." she softly mumbled.

Hina and I continued to exchange what we knew so far, her mentioning that she was eating a granola bar and fell asleep soon after arriving at the academy. We ended up sitting at one of the available tables. I took note that Akihiro must have left earlier, probably after my encounter with Mie and Monobutler, or maybe he was busy snooping elsewhere or was searching underneath the tables. That or he's just really good at hide and go seek.

"So...what do you do as a journalist, Arihime?" the amezaiku artist asked, a kindness in her voice that was like honeyed sugar, trying to make pleasant small talk, "What kinds of articles do you write exactly...do you specialize in anything in particular?"

Oh boy, she's asking the intimate questions right off the bat, gotta keep my cover up as much as I can. Hina seemed very nice so far, but the last thing I needed was someone getting too close and snooping around in my business, so for the sake of my mission, I did my best not to run my motormouth like I usually did. I may be a fan, but who knows what could happen with these celebrity types.

"I uh….work for a private company that specializes in umm…." I hesitated to tell her more, even though she didn't seem like the nosy type, "...pop culture and social/political activism, boring stuff like that."

"Oh? That sounds...interesting," she looked even more curious, "You mean like those quizzes that are like 'Your favorite snacks details who you were in a past life' or 'Answer these questions and you'll find out when you'll meet your soulmate?"

"Heh...something like that," I smugly chuckled, almost snorting in disbelief, "I like to consider myself a bit more high brow than that though…."

"Oh, okay…." Hina nodded, perplexed by my word choices, but shook it off.

We continued to banter for a bit, before I heard the cafeteria doors swing open like a revolving door. A figure emerged from within, another guy this time, but he looked different from the others I've met so far, almost historically so.

He stood at the end of the hall, observing the room before noticing Hina and I chatting and approached us at a steady, yet almost limp, pace.

He had natural blonde hair that was gelled back to the nape of his neckline with some small strands perched on his forehead, a pair of grey eyes that stood out amidst his fair yet light skin. It was hard to tell from the clothes he was wearing, but he looked toned, possibly athletic but more on the skinny side.

He wore an outfit that seemed a bit too formal for casual wear, donning a black suit, white shirt underneath a grey waistcoat with a small white bowler hat pin and cane symbol emblazoned on the breast pocket. He wore a simple black neck tie around his neatly pressed collar, a black belt cinched around his waist accompanied with black pants and brown heeled dress shoes.

There was a noticeable metal brace over his right leg, which only contrasted heavily with his dapper attire, a pair of black framed glasses perched on his face giving him that smart, but composed look with white dress gloves on both of his hands. In his left hand, he carried an ornate silver T-handle cane like a walking stick and a silver chain attached to his suits' breast pocket, most likely a pocket watch resting inside.

"Ooh...who is he?" the amezaiku artist turned her attention to the formal gentleman coming our way.

"I don't know, but I guess he must have missed the turn looking for the historical fair or something," I snickered at my own terrible joke, "Let's go say hi to him."

"A-Alright…" she nervously responded, trailing behind me as I approached the man.

"Good day to you, ladies," the dapper man politely greeted us, a stoic deepness to his voice that added a tinge of maturity to his overall disposition, "Might I be so bold as to ask what is going on? Or if you know where the others are located?"

His overly formal dialect caught me off guard at first, but upon hearing his accent I knew he was probably from the UK. He looked to be the same age as we were, but it was hard to tell if this was him being genuine or if he was a cosplayer currently method acting as a proper English gentleman.

"We were just wondering that ourselves, good sir," I playfully added my own formal quip, "However, I don't think right now is the best time to be sitting around and playing house and dress up."

"I would have to concur as well," he nodded in agreement, "But where are my manners, forgive me, my name is **Artorius Jones**. You may call me **Arthur** if you'd like," he politely bowed the best he could, gripping on his cane tightly, "I hail from London and my **Crown** talent is that of a **Bartitsu Master**. I do hope we can get along."

**ARTORIUS JONES - CROWN BARTITSU MASTER**

"Bartitsu?" Hina asked, cocking her head to the side, unsure of what he said, "Is that some kind of sport like event?"

"Not quite, love," he shook his head, pushing up his glasses a little, "My craft is an eclectic form of martial arts and self-defence. Think of it as a mix of boxing, jujitsu, cane fighting and French kickboxing all rolled up into one, but add a dash of class to it while wearing a suit and tie."

"Aaaah, now it makes more sense," I pretended to know what it was, but was just as surprised as Hina was, "So it's like a weird gentleman's society kind of fighting?"

"I suppose you can address it like that, haha," he humbly chuckled, a bit embarrassed judging from the hearty smile on his face, "It's a bit knackering, but I never get bored enlightening others about my talent. I take pride in what I do."

"That's quite impressive, Arthur," I smiled, giggling at how seriously he was taking himself, "Hopefully you can come to my rescue one day and throw down with a big brute in my honor."

"Oh madam, I'm quite chuffed by your playful teasing," he looked away, blushing at my playful remark, "However you have my word if something were to run amok….I will uphold your honor, I swear on it my name."

"Wow….such a gentleman," Hina seemed both flattered and awkward by the cheesy sentiments exchanged between us.

"Yeah cool story, man," I rolled my eyes, feeling the cheese enter my ears, "By chance, do you know how you got here? It seems that everyone else was kidnapped from the looks of it, with the exception of a few people who were punked."

"I say, that's quite the story," he kept a serious tone, "However I must be the bearer of bad news and say that I have no recollection of ever being kidnapped or any version of it."

"Wait really?" Hina's eyes bulged out in surprise, "So no one drugged you or anything uh...Arthur was it?"

"If they did, I would have put up quite the fight," he gripped his cane a bit tighter, "I merely was greeted upon entry and as I entered the elevator I felt a tad drowsy and woke up as soon as I arrived at this floor."

I can definitely see that happening, although it's a lot less believable than what Carlotta had been through. Arthur, judging from first impressions, looked like a history buff, but if he's hiding some muscle under his suit, then I can't really speak much to if his story was true or not.

"Oh right intros…" I shook myself out of my internal monologue, "I'm Arihime Miyagawa, the Crown Journalist and this is Hina Shimizu, Crown Amezaiku Artist. Pleasure to meet you."

"Hello Arthur," Hina waved to the bartitsu master, a bit nervous as she said it, "I hope we can get along."

"Well it's good to make both of your acquaintances, ladies," he nodded his head, a small smile present on his face.

"Now that that's out of the way. I think we should-" I announced before getting cut off by something loud.

**DING DONG DING DONG**

A bell like intercom rang throughout the cafeteria, interrupting whatever idea I was going to suggest as I turned my attention to a large plasma tv like screen in one corner of the large room. Instead of a clear image, there was a distorted static one with a silhouetted figure front and center. It was hard to make out, but I could tell that this figure wasn't human, but more animal-like.

"Ahem, attention all Crown students of Crown Crest Academy," the voice was cartoonishly high pitched, I could have sworn it sounded oddly familiar like a strange sense of deja vu, "Wakey wakey anyone still asleep, for those still wandering aimlessly around the halls like the idiots you are, please gather to the gym for a special school welcoming ceremony! I hope to see you all there really soon!"

Before I could process that abrupt announcement, I looked back at Arthur and Hina, both of whom were just as surprised as I was. The amezaiku artist seemed to be anxious while the bartitsu master was a bit tense, positioning himself in a defensive stance as if ready to throw down.

"I guess we should go to the gym first…" I chuckled nervously, trying to break the icy silence.

"Yeah ummm…." Hina wanted to say something, but cut herself off mid-sentence, "Nevermind, let's just go…"

"In that case, I'll accompany you both on the way," Arthur remarked cautiously, "Can't be too careful around here, what with the lack of security and staff. Who knows what could be roaming these halls in our midst."

"I agree, for now, let's just head out," I acknowledged his gesture and proceeded to leave the cafeteria, the two of them following closely behind.

We left the cafeteria, hoping to find something that resembled the door to the gym. Arthur kept his guard up, trying his absolute best to look strong for us girls while remaining vigilant and poised, what an absolute dork.

Hina on the other hand just appreciated the company, her satisfied expression said that she was happy that she wasn't the only one stuck here and I felt the same sentiment, even if now wasn't the best time to find small reprieves in the middle of dangerous situations.

"There you are!" a familiar voice called out, belonging to the consultant himself, "Why did you leave me behind like that?" He seemed to have been speedwalking judging from the small sweat beads dripping on the side of his head.

"Oh, you were still inside the cafeteria?" I smirked at his complacency, "You're so good at lurking that it was easy for me to miss you, Noob."

"Hmph, be that as it may, have you found out anything useful?" he retorted with a raised eyebrow, "I see you've made the acquaintance of new people. Have they told you anything useful for your story? From your puzzled look, I suggest they haven't."

"Wow, how'd you guess," I sarcastically remarked,"At least we won't be lonely for whatever shitstorm is headed our way. I'm meeting so many new people today, next thing you know, we're gonna to be chased down by a serial killer while he picks us off one by one!"

"Oh your sense of dark humor hasn't ceased to amuse me," he chuckled, fiddling with the notebook in his gloved hands, "I didn't make much progress either, so I guess we're both in the same boat."

"Pardon me for intruding, good sir," Arthur inserted himself in the middle of our banter, "I don't believe we've had the pleasure. My name is Artorius Jones, Arthur if you wish, Crown Bartitsu Master."

"Nice to meet you, Arthur," the consultant's swift, yet cool, movements eased into the greeting almost flawlessly, then turning to Hina, "And from what I've gathered, you must be Hina Shimizu, Crown Amezaiku Artist, correct me if I'm wrong?"

The pink haired girl responded with a shocked expression, surprised as to how he knew her name, but I didn't feel the need to explain to her about his prying nature.

"O-Oh uh...yes I am," she almost tripped over herself, "Nice to meet you uhm…"

"Akihiro Nobuo, Crown Consultant," he looked at her with a pearly white smile, one that would make any girl blush, "I just happened to overhear you talking with my friend, Arihime over here is all. That's how I know who you are."

"Likely excuse," I internally thought to myself, almost scared of his acute hearing and sharp observational skills, "Oh well, I'll let him entertain those two for now."

The four of us walked through the halls, making playful conversation as we eventually arrived at what appeared to be the gym. Two plain orange double doors with the words 'Gym' written in stylish font and two oval, transparent windows that allowed a small glimpse inside.

I pushed open the doors, greeted with a small lobby-like area with not much to it aside from many athletic club photos lined next to the glass cabinets along with golden, silver and bronze trophies lined on opposite sides of each wall. Each trophy was emblazoned with the words 'Crown' in bright black letters and there were so many faces in the photos that it was hard to make out who was who.

The floors, walls and other interior details were plain and nondescript, bar the other set of orange double doors that led into the gym itself.

"Hmm how lovely," Arthur observed each photo, adjusting his glasses to see each frame better, "I wonder if I can start a bartitsu club here? Headmaster Watase seems to have so many accomplished teams under his belt."

"You do realize that we're the only ones in this strangely empty school," I turned to him with a look of confused disbelief.

"Oh come now, surely whoever brought us here is jesting with us," he firmly said, trying to make sense of every thing "I flutter a guess that they're just waiting to surprise us as soon as we enter through those doors."

"That's a hopeful guess…" Hina seemed just as worried, but assuaged by the idea, "I wonder if anyone else is inside?"

"Only one way to know for sure," I sighed, proceeding through the next set of double doors.

Inside the gym, I noticed immediately that it looked quite similar to Hope's Peak's gym, except with a much more lavish and diverse range of stuff inside. It was a basketball like wooden, polished court with two opposing basketball hoops on either side, racks on opposite sides of the room with different types of sports ball, some sanitary wipes and cleaning tools off to the side for those who wanted to keep each station clean and at the far ends of the room.

There was a stage with lovely velvet blue curtains at the back, a wooden podium in the center with a microphone attached, the school's insignia encrestened in the wooden floor in a raven black print, metal ceiling girders with black and gold banners hanging from each metal rung. On each side of the gym there were bleacher stands with each seat having cushioned backrests.

This was probably the fanciest looking gym court I've ever seen in my entire life. If this school turned out to be one giant scam, then they really went all out to convince everyone and their mothers it was legitimate. I could be wrong about this, but the lack of students and staff plus a really ominous setting such as this, didn't really ease me into the idea.

"I see we're not the first ones to arrive here," Akihiro pointed out, motioning over to the large crowd of people already inside, "Ah there's Kagohara," he saw Takeshi off by himself monitoring the room like a vigilant overseer, "I have business to discuss with him, see you later."

"I see he was able to ward off that vicious cellist," I snorted, chuckling to myself, "Time to make myself scarce and find other people to meet. Catch you later Hina and Arthur."

"Okay...see you Arihime," Hina waved to me, a small smile on her face.

"Farewell," Arthur bade me with a gentlemanly nod.

There were a lot of unfamiliar faces in the crowd, bar the exception of a few I've met earlier. Takeshi and Akihiro were both chatting with each other, the police officer probably happy to talk with someone he considers "rational and logical". Frankly I'm more annoyed that those two are so chummy with each other, but I won't lose any sleep figuring out how.

I spotted the hellspawn herself, Carlotta who was busy fraternizing with Aoki and another man I wasn't familiar with. It figures that those two would probably be in the same leagues as each other, given they've been nothing but stuck up and standoffish so far. The cellist seemed happy to meet another girl of wealthy status like her, while the jeweler just nodded along, a small smile creeping on her face.

Anastasiy hung around Daizo and Arata, two people who seemed to be the ones that stuck out the most to me. The arachnologist was playing with his tarantula in the palm of his hands, Arata seeming to have taken interest in his strange affixation with the insect. The body painter eyed the zipliner with an irritated glare, but generally ignored his presence, while Anasta just seemed happy for the company.

Meanwhile, I spotted Mie off by her lonesome, staring aimlessly at the ceiling while a curious Kuromi wondered what was going through the gloomy, pastel-colored girl's mind. The press agent's placid stare could see into your soul given how lifeless she looked, while the monochrome painter watched her as if she were gazing at a wild predator in the safari.

"What a strange crowd of people," I commented to myself, "Who knew Crown students would be so diverse, yet so perplexing. It's like odd poetry."

Why am I getting so fucking deep with this shit? I'm bored out of my mind, sue me.

Off in the corner of the room, I spotted a new person; a young girl who was huddled by herself and looking at all of us as if we were vicious lions waiting for her to take an inch so we could devour her. She looked scared beyond belief, shaking like a leaf fallen from a tree.

She had long, wavy, pale blue hair that extended past her hips, with longer bangs covering the side of her face, with a chunk of hair falling directly over the center, almost hiding her eyes. What her hair didn't cover, revealed light gray eyes that looked wider than her face, painted with a shocked, almost terrified expression. From what I could see, there was a small scar on the bridge of her nose, and while she was a petite and pale looking girl, she had an average build with plenty of baby fat on her cheeks.

She wore a white button down beneath a thick yellow cardigan, which had two large pink buttons and two side pockets trimmed with matching pink thread. A plaid pink skirt rested a few inches above her knees with teal knee high socks and white Mary-Janes on her feet to give her that innocent schoolgirl look.

Judging from her timid posture, one wrong step could have her quickly retreating to another area of the gym almost instantly. So much like the normal person I claim to be, I approached her very delicately, hoping to not scare her off so suddenly. Why the fuck am I treating her like an endangered species? Who knows.

"Umm excuse me," I cleared my throat, hoping to get her attention, "Am I disturbing you?"

"Huh?!" she jumped, frightened by my simple greeting, "O-Oh... uh...a-are you uh…"

Oh boy she's already a mental mess as is, better not spook her anymore than my dumbass already has. How do I approach this though? Even a light breeze could terrify her if given the chance.

"I just wanted to-"

"I'm sorry! P-Please don't smite m-me!" she yelped out, garnering a few concerned looks from some of the others in the room.

"Shhhhh it's alright," I waved my hands down, trying to quell her fears,"I'm not going to 'smite' you as you call it." I wonder what her damage is, "I just wanted to introduce myself, is that alright with you?"

"I uh- oh goodness," her flustered rambling was a bit worrying, but I tried to keep a calm face about it, "I'm very sorry, so sorry!"

"It's alright, you don't need to apologize so much," I sighed deeply, feeling exhausted just trying to get her to sit still, "Can you tell me your name and your talent please, if possible?"

The young girl hesitated at first, sizing me from top to bottom as she started to shiver less and less. She was still breathing heavily, but they came to a slow halt as I attempted to give her a warm smile, hoping that would at least lower her guard. I guess she doesn't see me as a threat, which I'm not sure is a compliment or an insult.

"If Artemis can give me the strength to do so….uh…" she mumbled something to herself, casually alluding to a Greek goddess, "I'm uh, I'm-" she stuttered a lot, trying to get the right words across, "I'm** Yoshimi Papagiorgios**! I'm the new **Crown Mythologist**!

**YOSHIMI PAPAGIORGIOS - CROWN MYTHOLOGIST**

Good, she finally said more than one sentence. Slow, baby steps Ari, no need to invade her personal space like you have with the others. Don't be a judgemental journalist right off the bat.

"Ooh that's a cool talent you have there, Yoshimi," I knelt down next to her side, keeping a thoughtful, eye level contact with her, "What kinds of myths do you study?"

"I uh…" she was calmer now, but still stuttered a bit, "S-Study um….Norse, uhm….E-Egyptian, Chinese, Celtic- Oh! Aztec, Polynesian, and Japanese myths and f-folklore a-as well!"

"I see...is there any particular mythology you prefer researching?" I asked, keen to get more insight, "Sounds like you know your stuff."

"W-Well….oh I love Greek mythology!" she seemed to perk up at the notion, "I'm also half Greek on my g-g-grandfather's side!"

"Ooh how sweet!" a delighted smile plastered on my face as I continued to engage with the small, fragile bean child, "You must love and idolize him very much!"

"I do…." she looked away from me, despondently with a sad, wistful look on her face, "He…." the words looked painful for her to speak.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to bring up such dark memories for you," I apologized to her almost instinctively, "My bad Yoshimi."

"It's alright...I have f-faith that he's content with the other gods and goddesses…" she was on the verge of tears, "Look after him lord Hades and lady Persephone."

Okay we've entered religious territory, I should go before this turns into some weird personal sermon. Not that I have anything against religion or faith in general, I just clam up or walk away when I see people preaching in the streets, as I find it kind of annoying when they try to shove pamphlets in my face while I'm on my way to work.

"Well I hope that-"

"Are you having a laugh, mate!?" a very deep British voice cut through the awkward tension of our conversation, "You better apologize right now if you know what's good for you!"

"Apologize for simply looking in your general direction?" another male voice curtly said, "Quite honestly, I'm baffled you'd find this situation worth riling yourself up over. What a simpleton."

"Are you taking the piss out of me?" his slang was getting more and more angry by the minute, "Might be a right time to knock some sense into you."

Yoshimi and I both diverted our attention towards the argument transpiring before us. It was between two men, both of whom looked quite agitated, and I also noticed Aoki loitering behind one of the men, looking quite peeved if anything as she sat on the elevated stage.

One of the more aggressive voices came from the man by the jeweler herself, they seemed to be close, probably the same guy she was talking about earlier.

He was tall and had a strong muscular, but lean build to him that could almost rival Takeshi in terms of intimidation. His medium-dark brown skin had a slightly ashy undertone to it, with what looked to be various scars littered on some parts of his skin. He wore a black eye patch over his right eye, with the left good eye a shade of black that looked depressing in hue. His hair was a darker shade of brown, a bit straggly with it being long at the back and reaching to the nape of his neck, with other stray strands curling slightly. A thick fringe was tied back into a tiny topknot with some strands framing his face, clipped back with black hair slides.

To complete his ruggedly rough appearance, he wore a worn out, old black bomber jacket over a plain grey T-shirt, worn out, slightly ripped jeans and he wore white and dark blue trainer-liner socks and shoes on his feet that looked quite worse for wear, but still wearable.

His overall look gave me this ragged, yet old fashioned, look that seemed vintage almost. He looked like someone who regularly scrounges for coupons and discounts at his local bargain bin stores, but had the physique of a tough guy who looked as though he works a laborious job day in and night out.

The guy he was fighting with was the complete opposite to him, almost drastically so in comparison. The two of them looked like yin and yang given how opposing their looks and sense of dress were.

The other guy was pale as a sheet, with the only color being that of his dyed light violet hair styled into a clean cut look. His natural blue eyes shimmered in the faint light and gave off this lazy look to them accompanied with rather long eyelashes, making it look as though he were looking down on you. Unlike his lean aggressor, this guy looked to be in great shape, but he didn't appear as muscular, if anything he looked athletic, but his clothes made him look more skinny if anything.

He looked pristine, not just in appearance, but in fashion he was downright pure as snow given how much white was in his clothing. His button up shirt was pure white, with the sleeves neatly folded to his shoulders, a white ascot tie neatly tied around his buttoned up collar, a pair of white slacks and even white gloves and loafer shoes on his feet to cinch in his sharp attire.

Atop his head he wore a pure white beret, along with gold rose shaped buttons on the collar and cuffs of his shirt, with a gold rose shaped pendant near the ankles of his shoes. The one thing that stood out about his plain look was that he wore a white face mask, covering the lower half of his face.

If I didn't know any better, that guy was either a clean freak perfectionist or he was some self entitled, pompous cult member. Either way, he stood out of a crowd compared to the man he was arguing with, it was like watching a service worker argue against a wealthy customer.

"Please guide me Athena…" Yoshimi continued to pray to herself, closing her eyes as she covered her ears and eyes, "Save me from whatever disaster is about to occur…."

Both bewildered as well as annoyed by the developments going on, I decided to leave the mythologist to her devices and see what the fuss was about. She didn't pay me much attention, if anything she just kept mumbling to herself as I left her alone.

I wasn't sure how to approach the two of them, but I hoped to act as a mediator of sorts, even if this wasn't my place to intervene. I could let them ramble on with their dick measuring contest, but sooner or later, I'd just get even more agitated if further encounters would lead to even more trouble down the line.

"Hello there, I hope I'm not interrupting your little lover's quarrel, heh," I entered the conversation with a shitty joke, nice one Ari.

"Oh, it's you," Aoki turned to me with a disappointed, yet interested look on her face.

"Eh?" The ragged man looked at me with an irritated glare, "What are you looking girly, piss off."

"Who said you could speak to me?" the pale man spoke with a cold tone, "I don't have time for this nonsense. You nitwits are wasting my valuable minutes."

Okay...that obviously didn't blow up in my face anymore than it did. Time for plan B, cut the bullshit and be upfront with these insecure asshats.

"Look, I just came over to introduce myself, that's all," I shook my head, my eye twitching impatiently, "No need to be complete dicks about it. You two must be really fun at parties."

"Whatever, I was just going to give this smarmy prick a piece of my mind," the rugged man defended himself, clearly pissed as he crossed his arms, "I saw him looking at me funny is all."

"I was simply walking past you," the pure white man retorted, "You were the mindless ape who happened to brush past me rather rudely, so if anything I'm the one who deserves an apology."

"You boys and your silly little games," Aoki seemed amused by this altercation, judging from how much entertainment she was getting from it, "It's fun to watch, but quite boring. Then again...there's nothing else to do around here but talk."

"If we can put this little fight aside for a moment. My name is Arihime Miyagawa, the new Crown Journalist," I introduced myself amongst the hostility, "Before you two rip my head off, can we please get on a name to name-"

Instead of responding, the man in white had already walked away, ignoring me and acting as if I was a pest inside his ear. I looked on in disbelief, but wasn't surprised to see that there were egotistic people like him in this school.

"What an asshole," I rolled my eyes, "Couldn't even give me his name….."

"Agreed," the rugged man clicked his tongue, overhearing my rambling, "Look, I'm sorry for snapping at you just now and looking like a complete arse."

"So long as you don't needlessly yell at me, we're all peaches and gravy, sweetie." I wryly smiled at him, "I see you found your little friend, Aoki."

"Indeed I did," she yawned.

"Nuff said, name's **Harlan Otieno, Crown Cooper,**" he responded surprisingly well.

**HARLAN OTIENO - CROWN COOPER**

"Ah, so you were the one that Aoki was mentioning earlier," I realized, "Oh how nice it must be to see a familiar face. I take it you two know each other?"

"Exactly," she chimed in at that moment, "Harlan and I are close friends, we met back in England and used to be students at Hope's Peak. As a journalist, I'm sure you're aware of the situation going on currently."

"Very perceptive indeed," I brushed back some strands of hair, "Although I'm more interested in meeting my other new classmates," I half lied, hoping to dodge the question.

"Classmates? What a load of rubbish," the cooper responded, snorting at my lazy answer, "This isn't the kind of welcoming I'd expect from such a hoity-toity institution as this. I'd call it downright problematic at best."

"Oh? So you were kidnapped just as she was Harlan?" I asked, hoping to probe him for some information.

"Yeah, got right smacked around near the front gate after I forgot something in the limo," he continued, cracking his knuckles, "Those bastards put up a good fight despite my efforts, I woke up inside one of the classrooms."

"You're such a heavy sleeper, " the jeweler commented, "Your snoring gave you away, it was quite funny. If I had my phone on me, I'd film it for posterity's sake."

"Don't embarrass me like that, Trick," the cooper blushed, referring to her by a strange nickname, "You know how I feel about people sneaking up on me like that. I could have nearly knocked your lights out."

"But you're so adorable when sleeping," she continued to tease him, "If you ditched those old rags and let me take you shopping, then maybe you'd look like more of a fashionable pirate. Rather than one who regularly dumpster dives for his outfits."

"As fun as it is listening to you two banter like a young married couple, I should be leaving now," I felt like a third wheel in their conversation, "Don't let me get in the way of your catchup."

"Have fun entertaining those other weirdos," Harlan smirked to himself, "Honestly Trick, I don't know how you can be around people like this. Its fucking exhausting I'll tell you."

"Years of practice and patience, Harlan," she simply said, as I exited their little personal conversation.

With that sideshow out of the way, I continued searching for that stuck up, cult member wannabe, hoping to recontinue our little talk from earlier. To be honest, everyone here, with the exception of a few, were starting to get on my nerves, even if I knew full well what I was getting into.

Sometimes I wished I had a little cute companion at my side, telling me what to do next and where to go. Although I don't have the money for a pet, I can barely afford to feed myself let alone another living breathing creature.

"Hey you, lady," a female voice called out to me.

I stopped in my tracks, turning my attention once more and saw a girl leaning up against the wall, with a dour expression on her face and a general casual stance.

She had charcoal brown, straight hair fashioned into a short ponytail that went half down to her shoulders with serrated bangs parted to the right up to her half-open sunken black eyes with heavy bags underneath. She wasn't particularly standout-ish in terms of looks, if anything she was quite normal looking in both height, cup size and frame, despite her slight slouch and unnaturally pale skin. There was a scar that ran through her right eyebrow, causing a split in the hairs, but I could barely see the rest due to her bangs hiding the rest.

She wore a simple outfit consisting of a jet black blazer left unbuttoned with small pockets on each side, over a white button down shirt with an open collar, the top two buttons left undone with a loose maroon necktie around the collar. Underneath that she wore a pair of worn jet black jeans and a pair of black sneakers and grey ankle socks on her feet and finally a burnt red cross hair clip fastened into the left side of her head.

"Are you talking to me?" I asked her, looking around for someone else.

"Do you see anyone else I could be referring to?" she looked disappointed in my answer, "Anyway, are you from Hope's Peak? You look oddly familiar to me."

"Umm..no I'm not," I quickly swatted her question away, "Am I to assume you are?"

"Ladies and gentleman, we have a winner," her slightly cynical tone was a bit off putting but she didn't seem antagonistic, "Don't mind me, just thought I recognized you from somewhere is all...to be honest, even if you were a student, you probably ditched that shithole just like some of us here."

"I tend to have that kind of reaction from people," I awkwardly chuckled at her dry comment, "Sorry for the sudden question, but what's your name?"

"Straight to the point, I can dig it," she casually said, crossing her arms tiredly, "Nice to meet you, my name is **Mara Tachimiya**...I'm just a **bartender**. No need for the fancy title, feel free to slap that on mentally. Or, y'know, when the splash text appears."

**MARA TACHIMIYA - CROWN BARTENDER**

Hey, I'm the only one who can make fourth wall breaking jokes alright, don't steal my quirky character trait.

"It's nice to meet you too, Mara, I'm Arihime Miyagawa, I'm just a regular journalist, no need for any of those silly formalities" I greeted her, nodding in acknowledgement, "Doesn't your name-"

"Before you say it, I know what it means," she stopped me in my tracks, stoically responding, "I've heard many customers make jokes about that, I don't need anymore shit like that in my life."

"Oh, well I'm sorry for asking," I apologized humbly, "If you're also a transfer crown student, did you also get kidnapped as well, Mara?"

"Isn't that much obvious from you, me and everyone else being here?" she bluntly said, "I don't blame you though, judging from how you handled that situation earlier, you seem to be one of the few stable people here."

"Thanks, I guess?" I shrugged, sort of flattered by her comment, "I will say that the same can be said of you as well. You appear to be one of the more normal people here, no offense."

"Hey, I'm not going to sit around and just expect everyone to be upfront and nice about the situation either," the bartender continued, "I'm just surprised that people are taking this a lot better than I expected. You on the other hand, seem to know what you are doing, so I won't ask questions, it's none of my fucking business."

I like this girl already. I honestly wish more people acted like her, but then again we'd not have such a fun, eclectic cast of characters. And no one wants that in their video game fanfiction story now, do they.

"Anyway, I'm gonna go take a leak," she said curtly, a tired yawn escaped her mouth, "Don't let the others bite off each other's heads while I'm gone."

"You have fun with that," I waved to her as she walked out of the gym.

After that brief encounter, I continued my search for the man clad in white. After some aimless wandering around the unusually large gym, I eventually found him all by himself by the bleachers. He appeared to be fiddling with his beret and ascot, seemingly affixed with his appearance as he didn't see me approaching him.

"Surprise mister, I bet you thought you'd seen the last of me," I almost died inside when saying that cheesy television quote.

"What do you want?" he stopped fixing his clothes, looking at me with a disgusted, yet poised, expression.

"Nothing, it's just that you seemed rather antsy to leave the conversation earlier," I pointed out, which only seemed to stoke his ire even more, "You didn't even give me your name, that's very rude of you to do, leave a girl hanging like that."

With not much to say, the man in white stood there for a moment, sizing me up as if evaluating my entire wardrobe and appearance like a disappointed mother judging her daughter's choice in clothes for school. I could tell that me just being there was getting on his nerves, and I took great delight in it, but didn't show it on my poker face.

"**Otahiko Seijun, Crown Philosopher**," he calmly said, with an eloquent tone in his voice.

**OTAHIKO SEIJUN - CROWN PHILOSOPHER**

"A philosopher, how fancy," I commented, a bit awestruck, "This might sound like a dumb question, but do you create your own philosophy or something?"

"No." He cut me off before I could ask more, "What I study is of the likes of Plato, Aristotle and Socrates themselves," he grandly proclaimed, a bit haughty about it, "I study what it means to be 'perfect'. How society has lost what it means to strive for perfection in an imperfect and ugly world. How has man become so entrenched in personal folly and avarice that it taints the very values of human morality!"

Oh boy, he's proselytizing and going off on some random tangent. Ugh, I wish I had earbuds with me, this process could flow much smoother if I pretended to care.

"Yeah yeah, that's lovely and all, but do you remember how you wound up here?" I asked, "Also why are you wearing a face mask? Are you sick or something, Otahiko?"

He seemed annoyed by the barrage of questions, almost stunned that I'd interrupt his budding monologue of his own personal philosophy. Instead of pouting or looking upset, he cleared his throat and stood up straight and firm, a sense of grace to his stature.

"To answer your simple and inane questions…." he kept a steady gaze, "I was invited to be here, as you already know, though I doubt someone of your pedigree can understand what it means to become one of the top elites of society."

"Cut the exposition Shakespeare, get to the fucking point," I hurried him, he seemed offended by my swearing.

"I was caught off guard by some buffoon," he succinctly said.

"I see….I'm surprised that that's all there was to it," I shrugged, not posing another question to him "So why the mask? Do you have a cold or something? Are you infected with some incurable and contagious disease?"

"No…." he said, "If you'll excuse me."

The philosopher walked away, clearly agitated with my remarks and passive aggressive comments. I know I'm no saint myself, but is everyone here so standoffish and stuck up? I feel nauseous already just being in the same room as them. I might as well put him out of my mind for now, he's probably not worth the trouble.

I feel like I've gotten nowhere, despite feeling as if I was trapped inside here for hours or maybe even longer than that. Aside from the general consensus of this being a giant kidnapping plot, I didn't feel any closer to the truth than before. Is someone trying to keep up quiet?

Is Headmaster Watase a part of this? Did he….lie to us?

* * *

**A/N**: Hey guys, I hope you liked the third set of intros for this story, apologies for it taking so long. I've separated this long chapter into two parts, so the next chapter should be up right after this one, so keep an eye out for that.

Without further ado, I would like to thank the creators who sent me their wonderful OC that have been introduced in this short chapter. Give a big warm welcome to:

**Hina Shimizu, Crown Amezaiku Artist** by **CandiedStars**

**Artorius Jones, Crown Bartitsu Master** by **GrandmasterCastiel**

**Yoshimi Papagiorgios, Crown Mythologist** by **Shirasaur**

**Harlan Otieno, Crown Cooper** by **TheRoseShadow21**

**Mara Tachimiya, Crown Bartender** by **Sharkeye**

**Otahiko Seijun, Crown Philosopher** by **mandipokemon**

Thank you all so much for sending them my way, Crown Crest would like to welcome them to their gates. We hope you ladies and gentlemen have a wonderful time here at CC, it may be your last.

Other than that, I hope those who's OC were intro'd here. I hope I did them justice, if you have any issues, feel free to message me privately or via FF net. I had fun making their intros and if you need to add anything else to them, feel free to let me know in advance.

With that out of the way, I'll shortly see you all in the next update, where I will conclude the introductions proper. Later guys.


	6. Precious Crown Gems (Intros Pt4)

Completely bored out of my mind, I searched the gym once more, overhearing people chatting with each other coming from the other side of the room near the stage. This time it was a bigger group consisting of four people, two guys and two girls evenly. The temptation to insert myself in their lively conversations and ruin it with my incessant questions was nagging at me, but I needed to keep my cover up, even if I'm doing a poor job of it so far.

Amongst the chatty group of people, the first person who stood out the most was one of the girls, one of the taller ones in the group.

She had rosewood colored hair cut into a shoulder length mullet that reaches near the back of her neck, with M-shaped bangs framing her face and covering her forehead. A heart shaped face with round and wide features narrowing down into a sharp chin, along with an upturned nose, bright red eyes, pierced ears with no earrings, a mole under her right eye and thin arched eyebrows. Her fairly tanned skin was flawless and from what I could see, she was wearing natural makeup that only highlighted her natural beauty with prominent mascara and eyeliner applied perfectly.

Don't start acting up mid description Ari, focus!

Surprisingly, aside from her tall build, she was lean and while she didn't have much muscle or fat on her, the little she had, accumulated around her legs accompanied with wide hips. Her upper body was a lot skinnier than her lower well-built half with a thin waist, small bust and lean arms. As she gestured, I noticed long, almond shaped, well maintained nails painted in an intricate red and gold floral pattern on each nail.

On top of her perfect looks, she also had very sensible fashion taste. She wore a terracotta tank top with white halter straps and a pair of maroon pants that extended down to her bright red purplish short heels. To match her shoes, she wore a bright purplish red belt around her waist and a white maxi coat that extended to her feet as well, however the jacket was adjusted to leave her shoulders exposed, adding to her stylish outfit. To finalize her appearance, she wore a gold bangle around her wrist.

She reminded me of one of those models from a women's beauty magazine, she was very pretty and she made no effort to hide it. I admired girls like her, able to flaunt it if they got it, even if my frumpy ass couldn't muster up the time or energy to brush my lion's mane of hair or put more effort into my outfit selection.

The guy she was talking with also matched her same level of fashion and style as well, if anything he looked more like a male supermodel if anything, given his super handsome and attractive facial features.

His fresh face was clear from any spots or blemishes, not a single layer of dead skin or acne could be seen on his person. His neatly styled chocolate brown hair complimented his striking sapphire blue eyes with defined eyelashes along with a fairly chiseled jawline and radiant white smile. Much like his model aesthetic, he was in good shape, muscular but more on the athletic thin side.

He wore a simple denim jacket over a plain white T-shirt with a generously low neckline, along with plain jeans, black high top converse sneakers and a silver watch around his right wrist. While his clothes were more ordinary and trendy casual, they looked perfectly fitted to his figure, almost custom tailored at that. Meanwhile I'm over here with a baggy jacket, scratchy sweater and scuffed two looked like perfect beings compared to my scrawny self.

They reminded me of models and influencers I would see regularly on Snapgram, Instachat or Chirper; the kinds of people who are all full of themselves, a tad vain and care more about superficial appearances than the quality of peoples' character. Call me cynical, but it's people like them that made me wish social media wasn't as successful as it was and I hated how overly fixated society has become with looks and beauty because of those self-entitled, narcissistic, aloof assholes.

And that's my TAD talk for the afternoon, see you all next week for the next rendition of my self-loathing chronicle of averageness.

After pointless seconds of internally willing myself to approach them, I steeled myself and tried my best not to trip over my footing as I walked up to them. A feigned sense of confidence in my step as I trudged through the awkwardly wide gym like some video game boss.

"Ahem...uh hi!" I fumbled out, that's the first thing you say to them? You really are pathetic Ari.

"Oh, hello there," the fashionable girl noticed me, looking at me with a friendly gaze, "You must be one of our fellow classmates, is that correct?"

"Yes I am, it's very nice to meet you two," I mustered up my best smile, "My name is Arihime Miyagawa, I'm the new Crown Journalist."

"A journalist huh?" the handsome guy said, turning to me with a confident smile, "Pardon me, I thought you were a cute librarian for a moment, you have a very awkward charm to you that I can't help but find adorable."

"Thanks?" I looked at him with a confused smile, unsure of whether he was subtly insulting me or trying to flirt with me, "I don't blame you for thinking that, I just got what's cheapest at the second hand store. This jacket was seventy percent off, what a steal!"

"A diamond is still perfect and shiny regardless of it's' rough edges," he winked at me, a twinkle shimmering in his perfect blue eyes, "Sorry for the cheesy comments, I can't help myself when I'm around cute girls like you."

"Flattery will get you nowhere, but everywhere, handsome," I coyly teased him back, blushing a little but playing it off like a schoolgirl crush, "Might you two also be Crown students as well?"

"Indeed we are, oh but I forgot to introduce myself," the fashionable girl chuckled, "Nice to meet you as well, Arihime, my name is **Zakuro Kobayashi, Crown Personal Stylist**. It's a pleasure to meet you!"

**ZAKURO KOBAYASHI - CROWN PERSONAL STYLIST**

"I think I've heard of you before," I mused over her introduction, "Aren't you that famous celebrity stylist who recently helped out that new aspiring actress, Suzuna Yokohina? I remember watching her red carpet debut, that satin purple dress was absolutely stunning!"

"Thank you! She was a bit of a tough client to fit in at the last second given my schedule, but I always strive to let all my clients feel just as important as one another!" she giggled, seeming proud of her accomplishments, "I'm just happy that everything worked out all right in the end."

"I'm not too big on current fashion trends, but if you could squeeze me in, that'd be cool," I jokingly added, "You'd probably do much better with my wardrobe than I ever could."

"Of course, although I doubt right now is the best time for that," Zakuro said, realizing the situation that I briefly forgot about, "I appreciate your interest though."

"Speaking of interests, have you heard of me Arihime?" the handsome guy interjected, "I'm quite popular in some fashion circles myself. Mostly in magazines."

"Hmm…." I stared at him for an inordinate amount of time, he didn't seem to mind, if anything he had an almost sickeningly charming smile on his face, awaiting my answer, "Nope, don't have a clue, sorry."

The handsome guy almost stumbled over upon hearing that, a bit astounded judging from his genuine surprised expression. I can see someone's a bit proud of himself, although I wouldn't call him arrogant just yet, he's at least not a dick like Otahiko was.

"Well that's...new," he puffed out his jacket, "Either way, it's fine, name's **Cameron Eastwood**, I'm the new **Crown Model**, pleased to meet you Ari."

**CAMERON EASTWOOD - CROWN MODEL**

"On second thought, I might have heard of you. Aren't you that male model from America?" upon hearing his name, things became a bit clear, "I've seen some men's fitness magazines at the convenience store here and there."

"Why yes I am." His eyes lit up with enthusiasm, smiling once more with confidence, "Although I'm actually from England, but I guess my accent almost gave it away"

"Ah I see, I could hear a bit of an English accent in your voice," I giggled, twirling my hair like some romance novel heroine, "So what were you two talking about before?"

"Well, Cameron over here was just asking me for my professional phone number," Zakuro answered for him, "He said that once things have settled down and we're allowed to leave, he wants my help with some more fashion tips and to help organize his large wardrobe!"

"As soon as my manager found out she was going to be enrolled here, I was simply over the moon," the model swooped in to add his two cents, "Although, I can't find my phone anywhere. I really need to let him know I'm alright."

"I imagine that the KIDNAPPERS," I emphasized that last part, "Took them so that we wouldn't be able to do so. By the way, do you two remember what happened after arriving here?"

"Not really, unfortunately," Zakuro crossed her arms, leaning to one side as she thought it over, "I was actually on the phone with one of my friends when I heard a loud ringing noise in my ear, next thing I knew I was unconscious. I woke up inside the A/V room alongside Cameron."

"That was rather rude of them," he pouted childishly, "They could have scratched my face, and I went to the trouble of doing my morning skincare routine before coming here too. Thank goodness they only took me from behind."

How is that a good thing? I better not question him about that, I'd not hear the end of it for a few hours if he's going to go on some vain diatribe.

"Well whoever's holding us here, hopefully their demands aren't too hefty," I said, "I would imagine the authorities would be on their ass as soon as we were let go."

"What I want to know is, where's Headmaster Watase?" the personal stylist asked, a very good question at that, "I have my doubts, but let's just hope this is just some weird social experiment."

"Do you think we're on a network live action prank TV show?" Cameron asked, his eyes widened in curiosity, "If that's the case, I'd better make sure I'm camera ready!"

"Heh, I hope that's the case," I laughed, both worried and peeved that he was making light of the situation, but didn't press him further, "Anyway, it was nice meeting you two, I want to get these introductions done and dusted, later!"

"It was nice meeting you too, Arihime," Zakuro smiled happily.

"Peace out," Cameron made a peace sign with his fingers, "So back to what you were saying, Zak. I needed more flair to my clothes?"

Leaving the two to their own personal business, I headed over to the other two people I took note of earlier, another guy and girl. From the looks of things, the girl was watching the guy with an eager, inquisitive giddiness while he was completely nervous and mute the entire time, on the brink of giving in to her invasion of his personal space.

The girl in question was shorter than the man, probably around the same height as I was, maybe an inch shorter. Her long wavy bright orange hair reached slightly past her thighs and her bangs messily hovered over her dark red eyes. She was a curvy girl, not slim, but she seemed to pack an ample amount of muscle with an average sized bust. Her fair skin was nearly blemish free, aside from the small beauty mark underneath her right eye.

She wore a pale pink sleeveless sweater dress with the knit pattern reaching above her knees with a thick turtleneck underneath. Beneath that, she wore a pair of black tights and calf high lace up brown leather boots, simple and tasteful. For accessories, she wore a small pair of golden hoop earrings, round gold rimmed glasses, three golden bangles on both of her wrists and a white rose hair clip on the right side of her head.

She looked like any other modern day girl and I really loved how she was able to rock a cute yet chic look, props to her. The guy next to her however, was in a league of his own, given his clothes and overall look.

For starters, he was completely bald with what looked to be small scars hidden underneath a red newspaper hat atop his head. He had a round button nose, with both of his ears scarred from what looled to be burns and cuts. It was hard to tell what his body type was underneath his baggy clothing, but he was very tall, but a few inches shorter than Takeshi.

He wore a grey haori with green digital coding patterns on the edges of his long sleeves, with a white mandarin shirt underneath, a black hakama and brown leather shoes on his feet, a very traditional and retro look. Covering up most of his neck and parts of his face was a long red plaid scarf and he carried a plain grey messenger bag, like I did.

"I wonder what the deal with those two is?" I pondered internally, approaching them, "Hello there, am I interrupting something?"

"Hehehe, I'm just asking this guy why he's so stiff like a tree?" the orange haired girl giddily laughed, the guy on the other hand seemed to be sweating bullets, "He hasn't spoken a word yet, so I haven't gotten very far in my interrogation~"

"I see…." I looked at the tall man myself, he looked back at me, but didn't respond, "Pardon me for asking, but can you speak?"

"..." he kept his silence golden the entire time, only lowering his hat out of nervousness.

"Has the cat got your tongue, mister?" the orange haired girl giggled mischievously, "Do you think if we told him a joke, he'd break his vow of silence?"

"Hmm...let's not push him, he looks kinda uncomfortable right now," I said, he seemed to have relaxed a little, "Anyway, it's nice to meet you both, my name is Arihime Miyagawa, I'm the new Crown Journalist."

"Hehehe, it's nice to meet you too, Ari. I'm** Nikoletta Gabor**, you can call me Niko if you want, the new** Crown Florist**!" she perked up like a lit Christmas tree, "I'm sure you and I will become the bestest of friends!"

**NIKOLETTA GABOR - CROWN FLORIST**

"My, you're quite cheerful aren't you. What kinds of coffee do you drink? Heh," I joked around, a bit overwhelmed by how energetic she was.

"Hmm, I don't like coffee. I'd much prefer a hot chocolate or cookies and cream frappuccino personally!' Nikoletta smiled widely, "I wonder if this place has an internet cafe?"

"Given the facilities at our disposal, I bet they do," I put my finger to my lips, wondering that myself, "Although I doubt whoever is holding us captive, would allow us access to the internet. That'd be a big oversight in their plans."

"True true, very true!" she happily replied.

"Now what's the deal with the kabuki boy over here?" I asked the florist.

"Don't know," she scratched the back of her head, "But as far as I know, he hasn't spoken a word yet! Is he mute?"

"Let me ask him," I approached the man, "Hey there baldie, do you remember how you got here?"

He remained silent, his mouth moved a few inches, but he shut them up. The guilty look on his face was telling, he looked like a sinner who was sitting right in the front row of a church pew. If he was going to zip his lips, I'd better find some other way to communicate with him.

"If you're not going to speak to me, can I at least see your e-handbook?" I asked him, "I'm pretty sure everyone here has one. I just want to know your name."

The traditionally dressed man nodded his head, rummaging through his messenger bag and as he did that, something stuck out of the flap of his bag. I mistook it for some kind of animal, but upon further inspection, it looked to be some kind of geisha doll.

It was small and wore a cute red kimono, it's black silky straight hair was decorated with fake white carnations on the side of its head. It was definitely a traditional Japanese styled doll, but it's eyes were cartoonishly exaggerated with black sclera eyes with yellow pupils and bright pink round blush on the sides of it's cheeks.

"Aww how cute!" Niko chimed in, ogling the doll with childish wonder, "Is that your doll, mister? She's so adorable!"

"Huh cool. Props for defying gender stereotypes, dude" I commented wryly.

He seemed quick to stuff his e-handbook back into his bag, the doll's head peeking out from the side of the flap like one of those chihuahua dogs. For a split second, I thought the doll was watching the two of us with blank robotic eyes, the stares reading very judgmentally at that.

"Ginrou…" he finally spoke, his voice timid and soft spoken.

"There we go!" I smirked, finally getting his first name, "Nice to meet you Ginrou, do you know what your Crown talent is?"

"Ooh! I bet he's some kind of strange newspaper boy!" the florist giggled eagerly, "He certainly fits the bill, minus his strange attire. Or maybe he's a professional rakugo storyteller?"

"Strange?" he responded back, confused by her words, "Umm..**Ginrou Migato**...**Crown Transhumanist**…"

**GINROU MIGATO - CROWN TRANSHUMANIST**

"Interesting, that's a unique and rather obscure talent," my interest has peaked even more, "I'm assuming that you work in robotics, or have some knowledge in prosthetics?"

"Yeah…." he briefly said, "It studies the relationship between humans and technological upgrades…."

"That's like something out of a sci-fi novel!" Nikoletta was in awe, like a child listening to a fairytale, "Sounds a bit too complex for me to understand though. It sounds like mumbo jumbo.!"

"I know right, it's like a video game concept!" I jokingly chuckled, "So what? Are you like some kind of cyborg then, Ginrou?"

"Ahah…" he seemed to tense up a little, "Not really….but I can shoot lasers..."

I paused for a moment, trying to take in his words. I've never heard of his line of work before, sure there was robotics and I'm pretty sure modern day prosthetics are dabbling in the world of technology, but can humans really turn into machines? Will humans one day become just like the creations they make? Does this sound like a movie series waiting to happen?

"Pfft, yeah right!" I laughed it off, "You know for someone so stiff, you're a funny guy! It's a shame though, I'd love to see you blast Takeshi in the ass, if that were true."

A crooked smile formed on his face, he looked even more overwhelmed than before, "I'm not sure it works that way…." he sweatdropped.

"Thanks for the good laugh you two, I'm going to do one more sweep of the gym," I let the two of them know, "See you guys later."

"Bye…" the transhumanist awkwardly waved back.

"Bye bye!" the florist chipperly waved, "So Gin Gin, do you have any special functions like a cyborg? Laser eyes? Grappling hook arm? Ooh, maybe you have super hacking abilities?"

"..." he resumed his mute stance, much to the chagrin of the florist.

Upon counting the people I've met so far, bar myself, there seemed to be an even number of students, about nineteen others if my high school level math is to be believed. With me that makes it twenty, which seems like an even number to start off with, but that perception changed when I saw someone else, another girl by herself watching the others interact.

She looked quite young, probably from her height and she was really cute looking. She had long, straight pink hair tied up in a high black ponytail with a white bow around it. Her pale skin revealed the freckles on her face, but they were faint due to the makeup on her cheeks. She wore black eyeliner and mascara over her matching pink eyes, along with pink lipgloss on her lips. Fitting with her youthful appearance, she had a flat chest and little curves, but the outfit she wore gave off the impression she was curvy. She probably hadn't hit her growth spurt yet I'm assuming, so she must be a middle schooler or at least a first year in high school.

She wore a very small dress that looked a bit too tight for her, with the top part completely black. It had short puffy sleeves with a v-neck that showed off a bit of her cleavage, with a white belt separating the top and bottom of the dress. Her skirt was very puffy and short, with it stopping halfway down her thighs and in two layers with the bottom layer black and the top a bright pink. Pink fingerless lace gloves on her hands and black thigh-high stockings with pink bows on the front on her legs, really cinched in the cutesy lolita look of her entire outfit. On her feet she wore white ankle boots with a black outline where the zipper was along with a bottom black piece.

To add more to her lolita model aesthetic, she wore a black leather O ring choker around her neck with a silver ring in the center. A bunch of rings on her fingers, including a silver ring in the shape of a crown on her left ring finger, a diamond heart ring on her left index finger and a moon shaped silver ring on her right ring finger.

Her entire outfit screamed music star, which wasn't a far cry from how Japan treats it's female singers and idols. Her outfit was very artsy, but had that same sexualized look that would make anyone question how the Japanese music industry got away with doing that kind of stuff to their budding young musicians.

But I digress, time to meet another fresh face in this large class roster.

"Hi there," I approached the lolita girl, "What are you doing?"

"Oh...nothing, just people watching," she was surprised, greeting me with a calm smile, "I didn't expect to be in such a large class as this….it's very big."

"Yeah I didn't expect it either," I joked, leaning against the wall, "I'd half expected a smaller number, but I guess someone got overzealous with the roster," wink wink.

"Heh, I suppose so," the young girl giggled at my lame remark, "I think I overheard your name from one of the conversations uh…..Arihime, right?"

"Yep, right on the money, Arihime Miyagawa, Crown Journalist," I extended my hand to her, "Nice to meet you!"

"Hiya!" The girl perked up a little, shaking my hand, "I'm **Ibu Sugihara**. I think I'm the Ultimate **Background Dancer**. Oh, wait we're **Crowns** now or something, sorry! Well either way, nice to meet you, Arihime! I hope we can become good friends~"

**IBU SUGIHARA - CROWN BACKGROUND DANCER**

"Oh well I guess I was right about one thing," I pointed out, "I figured you were a part of the music industry, either that or you were some kind of fashion model or something."

"Hehe, I get that a lot...I'm not though, although I do like fashion" she continued, "But it's not really my style, you know being front and center and all that jazz."

"Well to each their own," I shrugged, "Forgive me for asking, but do you remember how you got here Ibu? I know it's sudden of me to ask you this right off the bat, but I guess you can call it a journalistic tick."

"Haha, I get it, no worries….umm if I remember correctly," she paused, thinking over the question like a kid in class, "I was actually running late from a dance session for an upcoming music video for this one rapper, so I didn't really have much time to get ready, so I went in these clothes."

"Go on," I grabbed a small notepad and a pen out, jotting down small notes.

"Well I don't really remember much, but I was a bit tired...more so than usual," the background dancer explained, "I guess as soon as I got to the lobby, someone offered a bottle of water and after a few sips, I passed out like a light, how awkward, haha."

"Not really, most everyone here has experienced something similar," I mentioned, poking the side of my cheek with the clicker end of my pen, "With a few exceptions, it seems most of us were either duped or kidnapped via some knockout drug."

"Really? That sounds like something out of a crime drama!" Ibu's eyes lit up with excitement, "Although….I don't think now is the right time for me to be so enthusiastic, sorry."

"Nah you're good," I waved away her concern, "I'm just over here doing a little investigation on my part. Just trying to cover my bases and see what's up."

"I guess that's the perks of being a journalist," Ibu tapped her foot, humming to herself, "I think I might go introduce myself to some of the others. It was nice talking with you, Arihime."

"Likewise Ibu, I hope you and I become fast friends!"

"I'd like that very much," some blush painted the sides of her cheek accompanying her warm smile as she walked off, "Later!"

So now counting her and myself, there are eleven girls in total and ten guys. What an odd balance, did I miscount someone? Did I by chance miss another guy lurking around here or was he still out cold from whatever anaesthetic was forced on us.

"Are you lookin' for someone, darling?" an unfamiliar heavily accented voice infiltrated my train of thoughts.

"Yeah I am, another du- wait a minute…." I said before cutting myself off and turning to my side and seeing someone next to me, "Holy fuck shit!" I jumped, surprised by the person's sudden appearance, "Ugh I hate when people do that crap, it's annoying."

"Pardon me, I seemed to have shook you," the voice belonged to a man with a polite tone in his voice, "I usually don't get that kinda reaction."

The guy who stood to my side, appearing out of the blue like a thinly veiled shadow, was definitely the guy who was missing from my headcount tally, or who I assumed was the one missing, since I'd never seen him before in my entire life.

He was a fair skinned, lanky figured guy with rather thin limbs and unremarkable facial features. In fact, most of his appearance was kinda plain if anything, from his short combed jet-black hair, to his light blue eyes, however he wasn't unattractive by any standard. His strong jawline gave his easygoing smile a plain charm to it, along with a toothy smile and friendly gaze that helped his accented voice come off more persuading than distracting.

Unlike most of the guys here, he had facial hair, more specifically a stubble that gave him that scruffy, messy look. From what I could see, there was a tattoo of a broken chain on his left wrist.

His overall look was very plain in general, and his outfit was almost similar to Akihiro's, if not a little more loose and lazily put together, as if he dressed himself in the dark. He wore a yellow and black duffle jacket that fell to his knees over a white dress shirt with noticeable dirt patches stained on the sleeves which were rolled up, with some even on the back hem. To accompany his look, he wore black, grey striped slacks with suspenders and he wore no belt, which was obvious given that his pants looked a bit too big for him in general. The only color that popped out of his entire look came from his tight blue brogue shoes on his feet, a black bowtie left undone around his loose collar and finally, a metal ring on his left ring finger.

"Do you normally sneak up on girls like that?" I slyly added, fixing my jacket and adjusting my glasses back to its original position, "Or is that just your personal charm, buster?"

"Don't eat my head off," he retreated a little, putting his hands up in surrender, "I just so happened to have walked in and you were the first one I saw. Now I look like a right gobshite."

"Meh it's fine, you didn't mean any harm by it," I shook my head, "You seem to be the last one of this large group I hadn't met yet, sir. Would you mind if I asked your name and talent?"

"Asking all the hard hittin' questions right off the bat, sister?" he chuckled to himself, "I don't mind, it could be a craic time."

Before he said anything else, he creased the collar of his rumpled dress shirt and wiped any grime from his face, as if he were a man trying to do some last minute touch ups before a first date. He was a bit cheesy, his accent made him come off a bit comical at first, but he seemed like an alright person so far.

"A shrouded stage full of actors, none of whom knows the other," he dramatically remarked, "But a lone figure stands by the wayside, adrift in the sea of promising potential. **Tristan McGrath**, at your service, I am considered the **Crown Thespian** from good ol Ireland to here in Japan."

**TRISTAN MCGRATH - CROWN THESPIAN**

"Oh, so you're an actor?" I was slightly unimpressed by his cheesy intro, but humored him, "Could've fooled me, that was quite the hammy opening."

"Feck, so much for a grand first impression," he quickly switched back into normal mode after his eccentric monologue, deflated like a balloon, "Now I look like quite the eejit."

"An Irish eejit," I winked at him, nudging him in the shoulder, "Didn't you write that play...what was it called? 'The King's Sleeveen?'"

"Well aren't you an informed bird," he seemed flattered by my recollection, "Yes, I hand wrote that piece myself. Although it's still quite amateurish in nature, it is my first work."

"Are you kidding, that play was hella hilarious!" I looked at him as if he were crazy, "I loved the part where the sleeveen tricked the king's adviser into accidentally confessing to killing the king, while trying to expose the sleeveen for pretending to be said king. It was such a surprising plot twist."

"Thank you, you're too kind, darling," he bowed at that, taking pride in that comment, "However, I don't know if this is the proper time to be exchanging such friendly greetings now, are we Arihime?"

"Yeah you're righ- wait, how did you know my name?" I asked, baffled and scared by what he just said, how dang astute are these people!?

"Before I arrived to Crown Crest, I always like to know who my peers are by doing some light research," he said, as normally as if he were placing a drive thru order, "I consider it fair play, that and I saw the name etched on the side of the notepad you were taking notes in."

Embarrassed by his claims, I looked at my notebook and saw the imprinted "Arihime M." on my notepad. Now I look like even more of an 'eejit' myself.

"Damn, you're sharp," I giggled at his perceptive remark, "I guess I should keep an eye on you in the future, hehehe."

"Don't tire yourself out with that nonsense," the thespian smiled, leaning against the wall as well, "However, I don't blame ya for trying to lighten the mood, it seems so darn grim round here like I just walked into a graveyard or something."

"I take it you haven't seen the butler and maid yet," I laughed it off, "Those two really emphasize the creep factor by a million fold."

"Haven't seen 'em yet, but I'll take your word for it," Tristan sighed deeply, fiddling with the ring on his finger, "I think I'll wander off for a bit...I look forward to our time here, Arihime."

"Likewise, see you later," I waved to him.

The two of us parted ways, as I observed the vigorous energy in the room as if I was onlooker at a football game. Judging from the general mood and tone, everyone was in high spirits or at least some form of it, while others were a bit more guarded and reserved than some others.

This sense of fleeting unity was not what I expected at all, especially from a group of Crown students. I'd expected them to have sequestered themselves off into their own little cliques and harshly judging each other with snide looks and off handed remarks, but it's quite the opposite.

In fact I've actually seen some of these people before, some of whom I've worked with and even knew beforehand from TV, so that aspect caught me off guard.

Although some of us are close, I still couldn't help but feel the same unease when it came to being called an Ultimate or Crown student. It felt disgusting as the words curdled in my stomach, like a bad case of diarrhea. Call me overdramatic, but I still can't help but feel tense and queasy, especially given some of the strange interactions I've had so far.

Unfortunately for me and the others, it was about to get a lot weirder, if not for the worse.

"Hehehehe, I've been waiting for you all to arrive," a cartoonish voice emerged from the crowd, "Welcome to your eternal sanctuary, my precious crown jewels of society!"

Fuck me in right in the ass…..who could have seen that coming.

* * *

**A/N**: Hi there everyone, nice to see you all again after a long wait (or in this case, a short while, but oh well). As promised I made another monthly update, pardon my slow writing process, I go through multiple bouts of depressive episodes here and there, but I will keep on writing these chapters unless otherwise stated.

I may be a bit rusty, but I hope that you guys enjoyed these intros, it was a bit tough to write at first, but once I got into the flow of things, it was a complete cakewalk.

This month was a lot better for me mentally than any other one, it was also my birth month as well, and my birthday was ten days ago as of this announcement. I'm officially twenty two and I'm still here writing fanfiction, oh joy, when will my life begin (Tangled and Disney reference aside).

In lieu of finishing the chapter intros, I've decided to split this long chapter into two, so that it'd be easier to digest and this can put a wrap on the rest of the cast intros for The Hopeful Lies We Tell. Honestly guys, choosing the last few candidates for the roster was tough, I never expected such a hefty turnout for my remake and I'm very proud of everyone for all their hard work and I appreciate the support sent my way, I even had to extend the cast as well, oh silly me.

Anyway I'd like to congratulate the last twelve candidates and thank you to their wonderful creators for sending them my way:

**Zakuro Kobayashi, Crown Personal Stylist** by **Lupus Overkill**

**Cameron Eastwood, Crown Model** by **Master Parafin**

**Nikoletta Gabor, Crown Florist** by **tobi-is-an-artist-too**

**Ginrou Migato, Crown Transhumanist** by **Shyjoker**

**Ibu Sugihara, Crown Background Dancer** by **SanityRequiem**

& **Tristan McGrath, Crown Thespian** by **Richard Conway**

Thank you all so much for sending me your wonderful characters, I had a whole lot of fun reading their forms and I can't wait to arrange the death order for the story properly, now that I have a finalized cast. I hope to write them to the best of my ability and I hope you guys liked how I wrote them. If you have any concerns, feel free to message me privately via FF net PM's or via Discord if you know me.

To the creators whose OC didn't make the cut, I'm very sorry in advance, I know you put a lot of effort into your forms and as much as I wanted to accept them, some OC fit the roles I needed for my story a lot more, but I wish you all the best in finding them new homes, I appreciate your support nonetheless.

Now that formalities are out of the way, I hope you all liked this new chapter and the next one will be where we finally meet everyone's favorite headmaster of Crown Crest. Is it Junya Watase? Or is it some other unknown force?

I hope you all have a wonderful day, night, holiday or whatever it is you are celebrating, I hope that these two chapters helped to bring some levity to your day amongst all the chaos in the world right now and I wish you all healthy and good tidings.

Before I go, I'd love to give some shoutouts to some friends of mine, who also have SYOC currently out right now. Go show them some love :3

* * *

**Danganronpa: Remnants Of My Heart** by **yours truly**, this is my fourth SYOC, it's currently still accepting OC so feel free to do so the deadline is at the end of August.

**Danganronpa: Etch it Into my Heart** by **RioA**, I stand by her writing, she's completed one SYOC and is on the verge of finishing her second one, so go show her some support.

**For Whom The Rabbits Mourn** by **SanityRequiem**, she's known for making awesome executions and despairing moments and she's planning more SYOC and she finished one of her own, give her some love.

**Dead Zeppelin** by **Orlando Butler**, he has such fun character banter and writing in his SYOC, his isn't due until the end of this year, so go show him some support as well.

* * *

Happy reading my fellow authors, readers and otaku alike. I will see you all in the next update or whenever I decide to post next. Bye bye!


	7. A Grand Welcoming Ceremony (VA Special)

**Editors**: **Richard Conway & Shyjoker**

* * *

As the room grew silent with each hushed conversation, everyone's attention was trained on the podium. From the looks of everyone, the general tension was shared amongst all of us, as we awaited whatever fresh hell was about to be served.

"Thank you all for arriving in such a timely and orderly manner!" that same high pitched voice from earlier reared its head once more as it echoed throughout the room, "I'm just bursting at the seams to meet you all! Here I go!"

Almost like a flash of light, something popped up from behind the wooden podium. It was a lot to process, however after that awkward pause, something landed on top of the stand and sat on it like a makeshift chair. Out of all the strange things in this world that I've seen online and witnessed in person, this one….probably doesn't even come close to being as shocking or disturbing, but it was close enough to be in the top ten what the fuck moments for me.

Resting atop the podium was a strange toy bear, like one of those stand-in models you'd see in any create your own plushie store window rack. Unlike those toys, this bear was really weird looking to say the least. It was painted in a monochromatic black and white color scheme; it's left side raven black and the right a pure white color, a duality that I could personally appreciate.

The white side's eye was a plain black dot and the black side's eye was in the shape of a jagged, almost lightning bolt shaped, eye with a red light shining from inside the socket. The toy bear's mouth area was white with a black nose in the center and a very prominent curved smile on the black side. It's stomach was white and it appeared to have an outie belly button.

"_Is that the same bear? It can't be…."_ I pondered to myself, _"But wait….it looks a bit different this time."_

The accessories the bear wore contrasted heavily with the reports and interviews I've read and seen before. I've studied many news websites and researched many articles encompassing this infamous bear and never once did it look as garish as it did right in front of me.

It wore a small silver pointed crown atop it's head with multicolored gemstones on the sides with black and red circles on each pointed tip. Around the toy bear's rotund frame was a black string tied across its neck with a royal blue, white fur lined cape flowing behind it. Lastly, the bear carried what looked to be a golden scepter in it's right hand, with a bright red ruby gemstone fastened in the center of the golden arches that caged it. With other random gems to decorate the handle's edges.

"Wait a minute...is that-" before I could finish my thoughts, the bear cleared it's throat rather loudly and opened its mouth.

"Hohoho~ Look at all of you lovely crown students!" The royal-like bear's first words were annoyingly high pitched, with a tinge of smugness to them, "I must say the turnout is quite large, I never expected such a grandiose roster. Oh this will be delightfully scintillating indeed!"

I'm sorry….what in the fresh, ever loving fuck is this? Did I bonk my head so hard that I'm starting to hallucinate this shit? Maybe if this was all an elaborate nightmare, concocted by a tired mind running on nothing but caffeine and leftover ramen, then it'd explain the oddities I've seen so far. Then again, this all felt so surreal, like some kind of dream-like inception. I shook my head a few times to snap myself out of it, but unfortunately I was very much awake.

"Hold up! Are you guys seeing what I'm seeing?" Anastasiy rubbed his eyes in disbelief, "Bro, this is wack, am I sleepwalking or some shit? Was it that leftover sushi I ate from last night?"

"I'm not sure what's happening either…" Ibu agreed with the zipliner's sentiment, "Is that a teddy bear?"

"Everyone, stay back!" Takeshi immediately barked out an order, getting upfront and close to the stage, "Don't move a fucking muscle!"

"Oooh! It's so absolutely, positively, adorably cute!" Nikoletta squealed gleefully, "I love its little cape! And that crown is just the bees knees! I think I had one when I was a child, ooh such good memories!"

"You seem way too excited about all of this…." Arata blinked at the florist's outburst, "Weirdo…"

"Wha?! I'm not cute!" the teddy bear angrily growled at the florist, "I will have you know that I am this school's headmaster! And your ever so auspicious _absolute_ host, sweetie!"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. I didn't know whether to laugh, look shocked or just snort jokingly. I knew who I was dealing with, considering the intense interviews from the survivors and even some small telecasted events, but if this meant what I think it did…..I'm in some really deep doo doo.

"Umm….excuse me. Who are you exactly?" Zakuro was the first one to question any of this, "And why are you claiming to be our headmaster? I think you may be mistaken."

"Did I stutter, silly girl?" the royal bear giggled, "I said what I said, I am Monokuma! And I am the new headmaster of Crown Crest Academy! Not that unglamorous flop Watase! Make sure you remember it for later, unless you want to see my bad side."

Fuck….I'm definitely in some shit now. I mean, I kind of expected something like this to happen at some point, but wow, I never expected it to happen so suddenly.

How was he even here? From what I researched, the Future Foundation ousted all remaining remnants of Junko Enoshima, even some of her pesky subordinates. Does this mean what I think it did? Gosh I hate being right about these things…..

"I know who you are," Akihiro interjected, stepping upfront and close to the stage, "You're the deranged mascot that led the first ever killing game. You were the intermediary previously controlled by Junko Enoshima, the former Ultimate Despair herself."

"Well, I see someone did their fucking homework," Monokuma mocked the consultant, "But yes, I am Monokuma, the one and only! I'm back for more trouble, bitches! I'm new and improved and ain't nothing gonna stop me this time! I've been thinking about it ever since that last bunch escaped, and I've made some improvements!"

Fuuuuuuuuuck…

"Umm...you mean... _that_ notorious Monokuma?" Hina looked twice as anxious, "Oh gosh…."

"Well shit." Mara expressing how I felt out loud, laughing nervously to herself, "Just fan-freaking-tastic….as if things didn't already seem sketchy as hell. I should have bet money on this."

"Is it really him?" Daizo was quivering in his wheelchair, holding Juno his hands, "Are we- are we in t-trouble….I d-don't know what's happening, someone please tell me!"

"Bloody well looks like it," Harlan seemed even more agitated than before, "What a load of rubbish, how is this even possible?!"

"I thought that tacky fashionista was as good as dead," Aoki responded, "This has to be one big prank. No way the Future Foundation would let this nonsense happen again."

"You better believe it, Aoki," the bear winked at the jeweler, "I'm back from the dead and hungry for more!" he mimicked a zombie walk.

"Wait a minute…." Cameron interrupted the jeweler's train of thought, "You mean to tell me there are cameras watching us?! I didn't even have time to brush my hair or put on some light makeup!"

Oh you handsome fucking moron.

"Oh get over yourself, you vain oaf," Carlotta rolled her eyes, "This is absolutely ridiculous! I will not stand for this charade any longer! Where is the real headmaster, I don't have time for this childish tomfoolery!"

"I already told you! I. _Am_. The _fucking_. Headmaster!" Monokuma angrily emphasized.

"Hmm…" Mie hummed to herself, watching from the corner of the room with a blank stare, "This again…"

"Spirits above us!" Yoshimi's piercing cry could be heard from miles away, "Send this wicked demon away! Begone!" She clasped her hands together in prayer as she chanted, "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" What kind of prayer chant is that?!

"It's gonna be alright Yoshimi," Kuromi eased herself to the mythologist's side, steadying her breaths. "Just remember...deep breaths in and out."

"As much fun as it is watching you dumb children piss yourselves," Monokuma tiredly sighed, "I think we should skip the formalities, don't you think. Since some of you know what's going to happen, of course."

"Can you please clarify what you mean by that?" Zakuro asked once more, "I'm frankly quite confused by what you mean, you're not making any sense."

"He wants us to participate in his oh-so-favorite Killing Game," Otahiko answered for the bear with an unphased glare, "I've done my research as well. I've had my suspicions about this academy before accepting an invitation here. I'd be a fool to think there wasn't anything suspicious afoot."

"Oh look at you Otahiko! Such a diligent, little snowflake," the bear taunted the philosopher's appearance, "But yes for the slow minded idiots out there who couldn't put two and two together, you all are going to participate in this wonderful killing game of mine! This time a new and improved version!"

"Like hell we are!" Takeshi's unbridled rage echoed through the gym, "I know your tricks, bear! As long as I'm around, there will be no murders on my watch! You can bet your ass on that."

"Agreed! Quite frankly, this is beneath us," Carlotta chimed in, "I will admit I was a fool for accepting this invitation so blindly," You also got left alone blindly. "But you will not get me to cave in so readily! I stake my family name on it, Monokuma!"

"Are you really sure about that?" Monokuma sneered evilly, "Never say never, my dear students. Although, given your resident police officer's nasty temper, I wouldn't put anything past him. He's all bark and no bite, such a limp-dick loser."

As if on cue, the police officer seemed ready to charge at the bear, like a ferocious bull eyeing a red cloth. However, he was stopped by someone unlikely, someone who hadn't said much this entire time as the bear inanely monologued.

"Please don't..." Ginrou stepped in front of Takeshi, holding out his arm to his chest, "I really doubt he'll let you off easy for blindly assaulting him..."

"Tch! You're right about that," the police officer stopped himself, "Fucker nearly got me there."

"Now there's a gold star student," Monokuma clapped happily, "Good job, Ginny! You're such an obedient little dog."

"..Woof..." Ginrou mumbled as he raised his scarf up. From what I can tell, he wasn't amused.

"If this bear is as dangerous as you think he is," Mara directed her attention towards Takeshi, "Then what's with the frontal assault, genius? Seems kind of retarded on your end."

"Yeah, what a cock-up that would've been," Harlan grumpily scoffed.

"It'd be a fun shitshow nonetheless," Aoki smirked, filing her fingernails.

Ginrou sweats as noticing Takeshi hardening frown, "H-hey guys-"

"But if I may pose a question myself: why are we here, Monokuma?"

"Good question Aoki," the bear snickered, "In short, I have a ripe thirst for revenge! Call it the old notch kicking in for some drama and guts! One more fighting chance against my greatest enemy!"

"Revenge?" I asked, making my presence known to the bear again, "Against who exactly, Monokuma? Are you talking about the Future Foundation?"

"Oh Arihime, you dirty little snoop," the bear stared at me with contempt, "I can't give all of my secrets away like that. Besides, I could care less about that snooty organization. Those morons don't even know I'm back yet! How pathetic."

"If you're not here to get back at them…" Akihiro asked, "Then am I to assume you're going after _**him**_?"

"Shush boy!" Monokuma put his paw to his lips, "Let's leave that for another time. For now, we need to get introductions over and done with."

"I uh, have a question as well...I hate to ask this so suddenly but..." Kuromi interjected, shaky and nervous, "Where are the other students? The staff? Why are we the only ones alone here?"

"Yeah...now that I think about it, that did cross my mind." Ibu added on to the monochrome painter's thoughts, "How is this school so empty? Is this even the real Crown Crest Academy?"

"Of course it is!" Monokuma playfully danced on the podium, "Whatever would make you think otherwise, little Romi? Is your eyesight somehow worse than Daizo's?"

"There's no need for that callous remark," Arthur joined in the mix, "How were you able to do all of this to begin with? This situation is real dodgy if you ask me."

"Maybe everyone is on some kind of field trip? Or maybe they got the day off for our orientation?" Nikoletta wondered inquisitively, "That sounds likely, I think?"

"I highly doubt that's the case," Akihiro seemed to be jotting more stuff down in his notebook, "Even if that happened, there'd be students in their dorms or some in their casual clothes roaming the campus or hallways. In that event, some of them would have noticed us passing by or even seen what had occurred earlier."

"I agree, this is rather weird," Arthur commented further, gripping on his cane's handle tighter, "Did anyone see any other students before this meeting?"

"I had a bit of a gander 'round the school before," Tristan responded to the bartitsu master, "'Fraid there's not a fecking soul in sight, aside from our sorry lot."

"Crap…" I mumbled to myself, puffing up my cheeks in deep thought, "This makes no sense..."

"Come on you guys, what's the rush?" Monokuma hopped off the podium, waving his royal scepter around, "Don't you want to play my little game? I can assure you, it'll be a killer time...Well, for me it will be, hehe~"

"How so?" I asked, "Are you going to force us to kill each other like with the other games? Or are you planning something else entirely?"

"Right you are, Ari-dear!" the bear nodded his head, "I'm a sucker for the classics and I wouldn't deviate from a plan as despairing as the killing game! Monokuma hunter games are so last year!" he winked at us, "Of course, this time I have some extra help in planning all of this." Oh boy, I should have foreseen that.

As the bear sniggered, he snapped his paws as two figures emerged from behind the curtains. The two people from earlier who didn't seem like students, but were the most suspicious out of everyone else here.

"You called for us?" Monobutler carried a silver tray in his hands, smiling creepily while doing so, "Sorry for our tardiness."

"At your service, my king!" Monomaid curtsied, "How may we be of help to you?"

"Ah you two, right on schedule!" Monokuma cheerfully responded, "Please be dears and hand these students their special devices! Hurry the hell up and do it! Time's a-wastin'."

"Yes, your majesty!" the two servants said in unison, grabbing two boxes from behind the stage curtains.

"What the fuck are you up to, Monokuma? Planning to give us motives to kill right off the bat?" Takeshi glared at the bear intensely, "Don't make me tackle your ass into next week! You're lucky everyone else is keeping me back."

"You shouldn't have needed us though..." Ginrou muttered, fortunately the cop didn't hear that.

"Oh contraire!" the bear snickered audibly.

"_Au contraire_." Carlotta audibly grumbling to herself.

"I have yet to come up with such grand ideas on the spot! For now, I welcome you all with special gifts! No need to thank me."

"I wasn't planning to…" Arata clicked his tongue, "I'd rather you fucking let me out of this place! I could be doing something else instead."

"Dude, seriously?" Anastasiy looked shocked by the body painter's statement, "Although I do agree that this situation is kinda wack. Yo, Monobear, are you sure this isn't some kind of game show or staged set?"

"I guess in some ways, you can call it that!" Monokuma hummed eerily, "However the prize for winning this game, is that you can escape this luxurious facility in one piece! Your restored sanity is not guaranteed though."

"I hear a 'but' at the end of that statement," Otahiko scoffed, "Get on with it, Monokuma."

"If you can so kindly shut your pure-white ass up," the bear snidely responded to the philosopher, "I was about to get to that part! _Ahem!_ As I was saying, there is a slight stipulation required in order to leave this place, as some of you smart alecks already know."

"Fucking hell…." Takeshi crossed his arms, "We need to-"

"Stop interrupting the headmaster, you ungrateful dog!" Monomaid screeched, stunning almost everyone in the room, even Takeshi was shut silent. "Ahem… pardon my outburst, heheh~"

"Yikes…." Ibu's shocked expression said it all, "Better not get on her bad side."

"Do you want to be on her good side?" Hina looked puzzled but frightened.

"Thank you, Sophia! Now, before I was so rudely interrupted..." the bear resumed, "You have to kill someone in order to graduate! Ain't that swell?"

In that brief moment, everyone paused to take on the bear's words. I can't speak for anyone but myself, but the sheer mention of killing was enough to make me gag. I read about how brutal the murders from the first killing game were and how borderline sadistic Monokuma could be. It was like reacting to torture porn, and that was just from hearing recollections alone.

"Care to elaborate for the rest of us dolts?" Tristan bravely asked, "Most everyone is too gutted to react."

"What's not to get?" Monokuma tilted his head, confused by the question, "It's as simple as that," his grin turned sinister, "Stabbing, poisoning, bludgeoning, drowning, electrocuting, crushing, shooting, snapping, bashing and all the rest!"

"This is super duper hella scawy…" Mie sleepily blinked, ruining the tension with her internet lingo, "But I totes should've expected this."

"That's an... interesting way to express it," Cameron raised his eyebrow at the press agent's remark, "But what are you giving us? Is it complimentary snacks?"

"No, you dazzling dummy," Monokuma facepalmed, "You'll see what I mean in a second."

As if on cue, Monobutler approached me and Tristan, the box held securely in his hands. He pulled out two iPad-like devices and presented it to us as if he were giving us his business card.

He then did the same with the others, handing them the same electronic Ipad as if they were pre-produced beforehand. I took the pad and examined it from top to bottom, hoping there wasn't anything that was going to explode in my face.

It was a plain black smart device, similar to the one I had earlier when I awoke. It bore the same Monokuma insignia on the back along with a Crown Crest logo.

"Hey look," Tristan muttered, motioning at the pads. "We match."

I stared blankly at his joke.

"I'm sure some of you are familiar with this device," Monokuma chuckled, "But for the clueless imbeciles, these are your designated Monopads! Your personalized smart devices perfectly tuned with all of your private information listed inside!"

"Excuse me Monokuma!" I remembered something, "I think I already have one of these!"

"Oh? That must have been one of the older models. These babies are the new improved versions!" Monokuma gleefully explained, hopping over to me like a bunny, "I'll take that!"

"Hey!" he swiped it before I could react, "What's on that tablet?"

"Nothing for you to be concerned with." The bear waved it around, "Now then, does everyone have their Monopads?" he gazed around the room, "Good, anymore questions? Make them snappy, I'm a very busy bear!"

"Umm…I have one," Ginrou raised his hand, "Were you the one who exposed Hope's Peak, with the scandals...?"

"Stupid question, next!" the bear deflected the transhumanist's question.

"Uh...what are we supposed to do in the meantime?" Ibu wondered, fiddling with a loose strand of hair near her cheek.

"I don't know? Sit on your asses and twiddle your thumbs?" Monokuma shrugged indifferently, "Not my problem. Just make sure you're all here for when I announce the first motive!"

"Wait a damn minute!" Takeshi approached the stage, gripping his Monopad with enough force to almost break it, "You still haven't answered any of our questions!"

"For one thing, we don't even know if Headmaster Watase knows we're gone." Mara raised a good point, "Guess that means we're shit out of luck. So much for a rescue."

"Athena...please save me," Yoshimi continued mumbling disgruntled prayers, shivering intensely and on the verge of tears, "Have I wronged you somehow?"

"Is...she gonna be alright?" Zakuro looked even more worried.

"Can you blame her though?" Daizo sympathized with the mythologist, "I wish I knew what I was looking at, but I'm assuming that my details are shown in the Monopad? Can someone help me, please?

"Allow me good sir," Arthur attended to the arachnologist, "Blimey, that's very accurate information! Except mine lists _my_ details."

"I've even added a special braille function for you, Daizo-bean," Monokuma haughtily added, "Forgot to mention that earlier, oopsies."

"Wow," was all I could muster up, "Getting too senile, old bear?"

"Quite the opposite, missy! The first game was a test run! I haven't shown all that I have to offer," he bowed, "I've wasted your time long enough. I'm off, kids! Enjoy your stay here at Crown Crest Academy! Ta ta~!"

With all our meager questions half answered, Monokuma vanished from the stage. I wasn't about to lose my head over this revelation, but I could hear myself internally screaming the entire time.

"Thank you all so much for attending," Monomaid smiled mischievously, "We'll alert you to any new happenings at a later date."

"For now, would anyone care for a refreshing beverage? Maybe a light snack?" Monobutler followed up, opening up his silver tray to reveal small cups and bottled water.

"Fuck that noise!" Arata irritably replied, "I don't want to be stuck in here with any of you!" He then stormed out of the gym.

"Should we go after h-him?" Hina anxiously asked.

Ginrou was about to do that, but Akihiro stopped him in his tracks. "Leave him… I doubt he wants to be bothered at the moment..."

"I second that half naked man's notion," Carlotta fervently agreed with the body painter, "I'm sure my fans will be looking for me or at the very least call the authorities! I'm already suffocating and I've only been here an hour at most."

"Really? You're not turning blue though." Mie received a glare for that, but didn't react much given her placid demeanor.

"I'll take that drink now, if you would," Aoki called out to Monobutler, looking both bored and frazzled at the same time.

"Very well, Miss Yasumi," the butler bowed, handing her a cup and pouring some water.

"Someone got cozy real friggin' quick," Tristan's eyebrows went high at the display of nonchalance. "You do this often?"

"Hey, I'm not gonna stress over a silly little game show," she received her cup and sipped it, "Besides, I'm quite interested in this game."

"Trick…." Harlan looked at the jeweler concerned, "Don't go asking for more trouble. And this isn't your usual bar hopping club session, it wouldn't end well like last time."

"Pfft, that was fun Harlan, don't kid yourself," she booped the cooper on his nose.

"So...what do we do now?" Kuromi asked, patting a distraught Yoshimi on her back, "Do we explore this place or something?"

"I'd much rather stare at the floor and count how many tiles there are," Mara sarcastically responded, "Anything sounds better than wandering into a potential death trap. But if someone does find one, please direct me towards it."

"I don't think that's a swell idea, miss…" Arthur sweatdropped.

"Well, if I may…?" Akihiro started. "How about we make some groups? I doubt everyone would want to look at the same places together at the same time. If we split up, we could learn more about this place together and at a faster rate."

"Groups? Tch, like I'd waste anymore time here with you peons," Otahiko remarked, "I'll do my own investigation, on my own time."

"As if you had anything else better to do, smartass?" I jabbed at the philosopher, "I'm sure we won't miss you." He just glared at me the entire time, a sense of pleasure inched its way on my face seeing him so displeased.

"Ooh, if we're gonna be paired up, I'd love to join someone's posse!" Nikoletta perked up almost instantly, "This is gonna be so much fun. I can't wait!"

"Man, this freaking blows…!" Anastasiy groaned aloud, "But I'd be more than happy to take charge!"

"Hmm, you don't seem like a leader material O3O" Mie claimed, still as stone faced as ever.

"In _that_ case, I will appoint myself as the leader," Takeshi announced.

"But sh-shouldn't we vote on who becomes the le-leader first?" Hina looked even more flustered than before, "W-Wouldn't that be fair?"

"Well, it is for grouping, not for leading the whole class." Akihiro corrected her.

"No offense, but I think I have the right to be head honcho here, goddamnit," the police officer asserted his dominance proudly, "I am the only one who knows proper security protocol and how to handle dangerous situations."

"Didn't you almost charge at Monokuma just a few minutes ago?" Aoki commented, the police clicked his tongue at this.

"Well, in some fairness he got riled up. Unless the bear shows up, he should be alright," Tristan countered her remark.

"I suppose that makes sense," Zakuro pondered over this, "I hope that we can find something noteworthy. I'd feel safer leaving my life in your hands given your training as a cop."

"Normally, I'd protest that decision," I chimed in, the officer looking at me, crossing his arms, "But I have to admit you'd do a hell of a better job than anyone else here."

"Hmph, color me shocked!" he smirked, "Now then, anyone who wants to join me, get your asses up and let's get a move on!"

"Aye-aye, captain!" Nikoletta eagerly joined him, "Come on guys, this is gonna be an adventure!"

"Wait for me!" Daizo wheeled himself along.

"Would you like assistance?" Arthur offered.

"Ah, thank you very much!" The two joined the first group.

"In that case, I'll head up the second group," Akihiro said, "Those who wish to accompany me, feel free to join at your leisure."

"I'd feel much safer in a large group," Ibu mulled it over, "I'll come along, can you come too Zakuro?"

"Of course, it'd be my pleasure!" the personal stylist happily replied.

"I'll come with, I still need to talk to you about my wardrobe," Cameron tagged along.

"Alright, party people!" the zipliner clapped his hands together, "All aboard the fun train, if you wanna find some clues first before those nerds!"

"Heheh, you're an eager one, Anasta," Aoki giggled, grabbing on Harlan's arm, "Come Harlan, you can be my personal bodyguard!"

Harlan groaned. "We're not joining him are we?" Only to reply with her dragging him by the arm much to his chagrin.

"Oy vey…" My sentiment as well dear Harlan.

As the three groups left ahead of us, that left about a small number of us left. I contemplated wandering off on my own to investigate, but if I had to keep vigilant, another set of eyes couldn't hurt to have.

"Does anyone want to join my group?" I asked the others left, "I promise I don't bite, heh."

"I don't trust any of you freaks personally," Carlotta huffed proudly, "But if you require my assistance, I will lend a hand where I can." Didn't you claim you couldn't handle being stuck with us? Consistency is not with you when it's not about your fame.

"Can I-... can I join you?" The amezaiku artist raised her hand, "I, uh… _think_ it might help ease my nerves a little."

"Sure thing, Hina," I waved to her, "If you need to take a break, feel free to do so."

"Thanks…" Three of us so far.

"Like I said, I will do my own investigation, I don't need anyone's help." Otahiko announced, swiftly leaving the room without bidding us goodbye.

"I think I'll rest for a moment…" Mie lazily nodded off.

"Haven't you been resting this entire time though?" Kuromi questioned the press agent, "I will have to skip on your offer, Arihime. I'll keep watch over poor Yoshimi for now."

"Alright, good stuff," I nodded my head, "That leaves Mara, Tristan and Ginrou."

"I'll take a raincheck as well," the bartender answered first, "I'm not really in the investigating mood, if you catch my drift."

"Fair enough," I replied, "Tristan, would you like to escort us ladies around?"

"It'd be my pleasure, sister," the thespian smirked, snapping his fingers at me. "Just don't expect me to get into any brawls. If things go all to pot, don't say I didn't warn ya."

"A real jokester, you," I laughed, "What about you Ginrou?"

He seemed to be deeply thinking about it, looking at us and the exit for a few seconds, back and forth. "I um… I think I can search around on my own, you guys seem full enough." He waved at us before quickly walking away.

The group had more girls, which may have been the reason why he got so nervous. Too bad, if he joined he would have accompanied Tristan as a fellow man. Oh well, beggars can't be choosers.

"Now that that's settled, come on you three."

"Don't tell me what to do," Carlotta strutted off first, acting as if she owned the place, "I will be the leader of this group, not you." Let's hope Carlotta won't start another speech of her hubris. Who knows, she might give one to the wall for what I know.

"Who died and made you Fuhrer?" Tristan scoffed, but still followed behind the cellist.

"I can feel the headache coming on already," I massaged my temples dearly. "Let's go, Hina."

"Right behind you…" she weakly said, keeping close but maintaining some personal space.

As we exited the gym, a sense of dread waned over me in that moment. I had no absolutely no clue of what I was doing, nor did I have a good clue of where to start. If everything went sideways this early on, then I can't say that I didn't expect it to turn out this way.

I just hope we don't end up biting off each other's heads before this game starts…...Then again, I was never one to take any risks. I might as well make the most of this venture, hopefully I don't end up insane by the end of it all….

* * *

**Danganronpa: The Hopeful Lies We Tell**

* * *

Pens, pencils, sticky notes, pins and other documents can be seen atop a large wooden desk, alongside a slew of opened candy wrappers, bags of half eaten chips and some empty soda cans. A figure types away at their desk, making intense headlines and watching a dimly lit screen in the darkness as the words flow from their mind one at a time. A reminder on their phone alerts them to a potential scoop from an unknown source as they hastily make their way away from their computer station and leave their station messy, with ants crawling away with the crumbs of their food. Visible black letters are typed into the document, spelling the person's name. Starring: **Arihime Miyagawa**. And underneath that: **(English VA: Emily Neves / Japanese VA: Saki Ogasawara)**

The article then gets printed as it is faxed to a different figure. This time they receive a message from a hostage captor from within a bank. The large figure is leaning up against the side of a police car, hearing the constant barrage of bullets pepper the sky with noise and gunpowder. They take a risky shot and injure one of the robbers, taking the opportunity to dodge roll to cover and after dealing with another goon, they swerve into the bank and come face to face with the head honcho. The hostages are cowering in fear as the figure demands their safety, the robber sneering at them with contempt, as they pull the trigger. The figure swiftly shoots the robber's knee, catching him off guard and punches them in the face, handcuffing them to the ground as the hostages are freed by the other officers. The people cheer for the officer as a trail of bullets form the hero's name. It reads: **Takeshi Kagohara**. And underneath in gunpowder: **(English VA: Matthew Mercer / Japanese VA: Ryota Iwasaki)**

The bullets are processed in evidence and the gunpowder is swept away with a clean rag as it transitions into a shiny polished mahogany frame. A figure is seen wiping the grime and dirt from a mahogany crafted cello, making sure it is spick and span for their recital. The figure sits in a nearby chair and practices their routine, fine tuning the strings and fixating on their cello bow. As they appear on stage, they close their eyes and strum their cello with grace, the lilting notes of classical music can be heard as the acoustics rise in tempo and the audience watches in awe. The figure finishes the recital and the audience claps ceremoniously, some throwing roses on stage for the musician, as they take a curtsy and rest in their laurels. The music notes form the name of the performer as they take their graceful exit. It reads: **Carlotta Scordato**. And the loose rose petals on the stage reads: **(English VA: Meagan Smith / Japanese VA: Shizuka Ito)**

The leftover wilting roses are left to rot on stage, as a shadowy long legged spider hides inside the bud of the flower. The aimless bees buzzing around are then captured by the arachnid as a figure's hand approaches the spider and it crawls over their hand. Unfazed by the spider's creepy walk, the figure plays with it as if it were a best friend, watching as another spider rests atop their head and spins a web around a nearby tree the figure is laying underneath. The figure wheels their chair away from the tree to place their spider friend inside their terrarium. The eggs inside the spider's home form their caretaker's name. It reads: **Daizo Hirai**. And the over by the tree, a loose string of cobweb trails on the tree branch reading: **(English VA: Justin Briner / Japanese VA: Tetsuya Kakihara)**

The web disintegrates and blows away in the wind, flying over on a blank white canvas, transforming into gray colored paint. A brush is smeared on the canvas with raven black paint as the figure painting admires the monochrome colors in front of them. Sipping on their milkshake, they coat a bigger brush in white paint and get to work, splotches of paint dabbed on the mysterious art piece as paint drips on the sides and is smeared on the artist's clothes and skin. After hours of work, they detail the painting with even more gray and white paint, revealing their design of a Greek sculpture. They initial their name near the bottom right of the canvas revealing their identity. It reads: **Kuromi Shirokawa**. And underneath in black paint it reads: **(English VA: Catherine Disher / Japanese VA: Haruka Tomatsu)**

The painter accidentally splashes more paint on the painting, transitioning into a more colorful and vibrant visage. Someone is painting the body of a female model with intricate brush strokes and black outlining. A pop art piece that catches the eye, the half naked artist delicately paints each crevice and gets the fine details just right. A muscle twitch later and they swerve off the human canvas, their name written in the streaked colors. It reads: **Arata Toshikawa**. And underneath in red paint it reads: **(English VA: Max Mittelman / Japanese VA: Hiro Shimono)**

After numerous paint swatches later, the artist finishes their work, letting the female model pose for the photographers. A lone figure sits in a chair, nibbling on snacks and watching listlessly as they doze off sleepily. Their phone rings as they answer it, humoring the angry person on the other end as they jot down notes in their sticker filled clipboard. The figure calls off the photoshoot and issues an emergency meeting for the press release, asking the staff to disperse and the model to wash off. Cute stickers line the walls of the white background, spelling out the figure's name as they lazily leave the room. It reads: **Mie Asakura**. And underneath that reads: (**English VA: Kate Higgins / Japanese VA: Meiko Kawasaki)**

The room gets cleaned up as the figure from before enters a bustling room filled with other corporate figureheads, all rambling and ranting about the issue at hand. All the men and women converse and argue over each other, with one lone figure off to the side, taking detailed notes and watching the room for tense chatterboxes. They interrupt the raucous noise and interject their own ideas, displaying a powerpoint and visuals to stimulate the businessmen and women's eyes and ears. After their persuasive words interest the figureheads, the board dismisses the meeting and the powerpoint slide ends, revealing the name of the presenter. The mysterious figure smirks and goes off in their own direction, typing more notes in their phone and keeping an eye on everyone as they leave. The powerpoint reads: **Akihiro Nobuo**. And underneath that reads: (**English VA: David Vincent / Japanese VA: Mamoru Miyano)**

The words on the powerpoint glitch out as they sparkle in the brightest lights of the conference room. The room dazzles and reveals a room filled with a cluster of gems and jewelry. Diamond rings, pearl necklaces, golden chains and silver bracelets line the walls in glass cabinets and fancy decorations. A figure is observing and cleaning a priceless white gold ring as they add special engravings on the metal accessory. They leave the backroom, placing the ring and a diamond necklace in a fancy tote bag, presenting them to a rather wealthy client for their fiance's anniversary. A fake smile plasters their face as the figure yawns from boredom, knocking over a display of diamonds and as the glass shatters, the gems display the person's name. It reads: **Aoki Yasumi**. And in the glass fragments reads: **(English VA: Morgan Berry / Japanese VA: Eri Kitamura)**

The mischievous figure leaves the scene and another figure's dirty footprints step over the glass, switching to a more outdoorsy and active scene. A crowd of enthusiastic fans cheer for the figure stuntman climbing up the ladder to a wooden stand atop. Their long hair flows in the wind as they smile back at the cheering fangirls below, reaching the top and placing their goggles over their face. The way down is long and treacherous, but the figure grabs hold of the thin metal bars tightly and vaults off the platform, the intense adrenaline rush pushing them forward. The raging wind kisses their face as down the zipline there are flaming rings of fire they pass through with ease and hit multiple tree branches on the way down. After almost losing their grip, they make the bold choice to drop mid-zipline, landing clumsily on their feet but sticking the landing with a goofy smile and confident gaze. The audience cheers as fangirls approach the figure, happily obliging they sign their name. It reads: **Anastasiy Vasiliev**. And with one more signature it reads: **(English VA: Zach Aguilar / Japanese VA: Jun Fukuyama) **

A growing line of fans continue to assault the figure with autographs, as a few pictures of them fly away in the breeze. One photo lands atop a sturdy, marble table as a figure places a large, circular plate atop the picture. A large, glistening work of art stands on the plate, a marvel of candy glass and decorative fondant flowers line the base. Judges glean disapproving glances at the piece, as a nervous figure in the background watches the scornful eyes with anxiety. The candy residue drips off the side and lands on one of the judges' tongues, enlightening them into a whole new world of flavor. The judges also take interest in their reaction as they all start adulating the sculptor and pepper them with praise. The figure wins first place as the melting sun bleeds the sculpture as the candy drips melt into the person's name. It reads: **Hina Shimizu**. And with the flowers reads: **(English VA: Megan Shipman / Japanese VA: Saori Hayami)**

The melted candy cools and forms into a marbled grey stone shape. Multiple statues of famous philosophers line the halls of this elusive hallway and a lone figure and their loyal disciples follow closely behind them. The figure's straight posture, confident gestures and poised voice convey a radiant presence that illuminates their followers' knowledge of the wisdom of the greats. The figure pauses their monologue, admiring an empty spot and imagines their likeness as a stone sculpture, admired for many years to come. Their proud daydream comes to an end as they grumble behind their face mask, lamenting their tedious day job as a piece of paper lands on their head. Annoyed by this, they uncrumple the paper to read the students' notes, reading their name. It reads: **Otahiko Seijun**. And as they grow irritated, they swallow their pride and continue with the tour of the museum, a row of stone sculptures forming these words: **(English VA: Alex Organ / Japanese VA: Kensho Ono)**

A few rambunctious students trip into the stone sculpture, irritating their guide as the stone debris form into the shape of a wavy and irregular flower bed. Rows of multicolored flowers and plants line the earthy soil of the garden. A figure can be seen trimming weeds and flower stems, grabbing multiple bouquets of flowers in their hands, embracing the warm sunlight and smiling giddily. They enter a seemingly homey shop filled to the brim with floral arrangements, greeting their fellow employees as they slide each cut flower into decorative vases. The flower petals fall to the floor as the preparations begin, with the flower buds forming the figure's name. They read: **Nikoletta Gabor**. After lining the store windows with flowers, the figure indulges themselves, flaunting around their garden shears and imbibing their daily 'vitamins'. The window display reads: **(English VA: Lindsay Seidel / Japanese VA: Kiyono Yasuno)**

Another array of vases on the shelf next to the window form into wooden barrels, caskets, buckets and tubs sitting on the walls of a workshop. A figure is angrily pounding the exterior sides of a large wooden barrel, heating up timber staves and molding the sides and inner creases. Blood, sweat and tears blaze in the fiery coal oven as the hammering noises increase with each arduous grunt. The figure's overalls are stained with greasy wooden shavings and their fingers and face covered in ashy soot fumes. After intense hours of work, the figure cleans and polishes the wooden frame, attaching a firm base to the bottom and hollowing out the center even more, with the leftover wood shavings spelling their name. They read: **Harlan Otieno**. The figure heaves the hefty barrel over their shoulders as leftover metal bits reveal even more words reading: **(English VA: Alexander Bean / Japanese VA: Daichi Endo)**

Another figure smashes the metal bits and they shape into a coat hanger, with an elegant dress hanging from the sides. A figure takes the black and white asymmetrical dress from the rack of fancy dresses and hands it over to another figure, their client. The client observes the choice and throws the dress on their lavishly expensive bed, revealing their luxurious living quarters. After ten tries, the displeased customer nags the figure to find them the right outfit for their formal dinner. With no wavering optimism, the figure peruses the closet for one more dress, spying a lovely blue and grey accented bodycon piece. They present it to their client, adding a pair of gloves and a jeweled hair piece. The mirror's reflection reading the figure's name: **Zakuro Kobayashi**. Their customer is satisfied, sighing with relief, they pick up the discarded dresses as they fall to the floor, spelling out even more words: **(English VA: Elizabeth Maxwell / Japanese VA: Yoshino Nanjo)**

Loose hangers and metal clothes racks are pulled away, a swift motion as the clothes part to the sides to reveal a laboratory-like setting. A laptop busy scripting data as a loading screen shows 30% slowly rising up to 100%. A doll was sitting besides watching a careful figure silently flip pages from a paper as working on a metallic leg, then pull a bag from a table. They then lost their balance, as the bag pulled numerous objects from the table. Forming the name: **Ginrou Migato.** The laptop was saved untouched, the loading screen completes, shows: **(English VA: Grant George / Japanese VA: Matsukaze Masaya)**

They exit the room, entering into a theater-like setting, walking towards the backstage and hiding elusively behind the curtains like a devilish trickster. As the curtains raise, the spotlight shines on the lone figure on stage, a tackily painted background litters the wooden stage, the figure clad in hand stitched robes and wearing a mask covering their entire face. A booming voice bellows out, tinted with a deep accent, leaving the audience at the edge of their seats, awaiting more. The figure grabs a silver dagger prop, wielding the dagger like a toy and piercing their chest with it. Fake blood spurts on stage as they toss their mask to the side, revealing to the audience that it was they who were the fools for thinking there was a happy ending to that tale. The splattered blood spells out the person's name reading: **Tristan McGrath**. The figure falls through a trapdoor, the lights switching off and leaving the audience on a chilling cliffhanger. As the performance ends, the blood soaks into the wooden floorboards as the curtain draws, with golden words reading: **(English VA: Robert McCollum / Japanese VA: Takahiro Sakurai)**

As the stage clears and the audience leaves the theater, the curtains open once more. A heavenly, almost beautiful view of a Grecian landscape paints the scene. A figure rests atop the hill, admiring the sunny beaches and taking in the glistening sea view ahead of them. They scribble notes and sketch images of what they see, only stopping as the light fades to reveal an upcoming thunderstorm. The figure bolts for cover as thunder claps to the ground. They dodge lightning and thunder spots, stumbling side to side as waves crash against the hillside. The figure whimpers as they approach a stone pantheon structure, hiding inside for safety. The thunder claps once more, the fragments of light revealing the name of the figure. It reads: **Yoshimi Papagiorgios**. The rain splash against the doors of the pantheon, as stone figures of Greek gods and goddesses weep for the meek person. Their puddles of tears form more words reading: **(English VA: Bryn Apprill / Japanese VA: Akane Fujita)**

Intense lightning brightly flashes through the rainy sky, as the scene transitions to a dimly lit room with a bunch of people inside. A lone photographer's camera flashes take multiple shots of a lone figure, posing in very mysterious yet alluring poses. They pout, smile, wink and do all sorts of seductive, cool and unique lively expressions for the crew and lead photographer. A slew of fangirls could be seen eyeing the young man through a large glass window, ogling him intensely with red blood dripping from their noses and some girls even dropping their shopping bags to eye the handsome figure. More and more girls try waving to the figure, as the crew cleans up the photo shoot, the young model puts on their clothes, off towards backstage while winking at the gaggle of girls fainting at the sight of him. The scene changes to a lovely starry night shoot where the stars align to form the figure's name. It reads: **Cameron Eastwood**. A few clouds eclipse the name as the mist travels in, more words reading: **(English VA: Austin Tindle / Japanese VA: Kohei Amasaki)**

As the night looms over, a sole window peers into a rowdy establishment filled with salacious and vulgar people. A bustling business where men and women laugh heartily, waiters serve platters of food and large jugs of alcoholic beverages. Loud chants and hollers wail through the room as multiple tv screens play loud sports games via tv screens mounted on each wall. A figure is serving drinks at the central bar, lazily getting the job done, while a rowdy man is demanding his fourth beer jug. The disgruntled figure blinks at the man, to which they ignore their request to serve a more polite customer. After a few broken glass bottles and dirty stares, a drunken brawl breaks out in the bar. The figure watches all the action, completely zoned out and in their own world as they yawn tiredly, crouching to the floor as bottles and plates fly helter skelter, forming a name in the glass shards. It reads: **Mara Tachimiya**. A few glass bottle of vodka is tossed at a tv screen, cracking it as the alcohol drips on the floor with more words reading:** (English VA: Shelley Calene-Black / Japanese VA: Serina Machiyama)**

As the liquid splashes on the hardwood floor, a figure clad in formal attire is seen entering the bar, noticing the commotion ensuing. Hoping to find a quiet table to eat at, the figure approaches an empty table, getting grabbed by one of the pugilistic patrons. Instead of getting squared in the face, the figure grabs the man's arm and twists it, using his walking cane to pin the man against the wall as he pushes him off to the side. After having dodged so many punches and kicks, the gentlemanly figure gives up and heads out, opting for the ritzy cafe across the street. A short walk to the cafe later, the figure is greeted by a friendly barista, handed a lovely cup of tea, the leaves reading the figure's name. It reads: **Artorius Jones**. The figure rests at a cozy table, taking in the soothing classical music being played as words appear on the nearby tv screen reading: **(English VA: Chris Hackney / Japanese VA: Kaito Ishikawa)**

The delightful tunes are amplified from the nearby speakers as the scene then transitions into a vibrant dance studio. A group of performers are set behind a lone figure near the front. Situated along the row of dancers, they all strategically align their movements with each other, like toy soldiers. As the figure leads the group, the music gets louder and the beat drops more intense. Sweat flies across the room as each passionate dancer finishes off their set with an epic pose. The scene reveals a music video filming as the lead singer takes in all the praise. The dancers all congratulate each other, with one sole figure, out of breath and trying to keep up with the others. They grab their dance bag and head into the changing room. A string of music notes spelling their name. It reads: **Ibu Sugihara**. The figure leaves the changing room in their street clothes, with someone handing them a free hand towel and a bottle of refreshing cold water. The dancer happily accepts the offer, turning their bag to reveal a tag on the side reading: **(English VA: Luci Christian / Japanese VA: Ayane Sakura)**

The figure serving water and towels bows their head politely, exiting the scene to a more formal kitchen setting. They are greeted by another formal figure preparing a fancy dinner for someone. These two figures move gracefully through the narrow, yet lavish, kitchen with ease. One preps the food as steam pours around the room and the sizzling of grease crisps the edges of well cooked steak, chicken and fish. A lovely cake is pulled out of the oven as the rising steam from the stove top pours out, revealing the name of the maid-like figure. It reads:** Monomaid/Sophia Phillips**. The maid decorates the cake with delicious frosting and ices the top with freshly whipped cream with the words reading: **(English VA: Jad Saxton / Japanese VA: Rie Tanaka)**.

The other figure plates the feast on elegantly designed plates, adorning the golden sides and accompanied by silver cutlery. The remaining cutlery reads: **Monobutler/Curtis Dupuis**. The seemingly skinny figure lifts up the rather large platter with ease, carrying it as if it were a feather. They exit the kitchen and into a fancy dining room where a decadent table is organized. They rest the large platter of food on the table, carving into the large turkey as the meat cutoffs read: **(English VA: Aaron Dismuke / Japanese VA: Tatsuhisa Suzuki)**.

An array of food is scattered about the decorative table, flower vases with delicate black and white flowers are centered beautifully around each one. A cartoonish figure sits atop an ornate throne, grabbing the biggest fork and knife they could get their paws on and salivates madly at the feast in front of them. They ignore the plate in front of them and begin wolfing down all the food in their sights. The wild figure slurps bowls of soup, stuff roast chicken and turkey down their gullet, scarf down a ton of baked desserts and finally start swimming in a large pool of red wine. The bear like figure leaves a huge mess behind, the scraps forming into their name. It reads: **Monokuma**. Finally, they indulge themselves in a few gulps of wine as the glass tips over, spilling all over the floor reading: **(English VA: Brian Beacock / Japanese VA: Tarako)**.

As the credits close it ends with this message:

**TWO ACADEMIES BOTH ALIKE IN DIGNITY**

**GREATNESS AND CORRUPTION GO HAND IN HAND**

**LIVING THE LAVISH LIFE THAT ONE CRAVES**

**SUCH AN ENVIABLE POSITION TO WANT AND DESIRE**

**A PERFECT SOCIETY FILLED WITH TALENT AND POTENTIAL**

**TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING CAN LEAD TO BAD RESULTS**

**A FUTURE SO ABSURD AND AGGRESSIVELY TOXIC**

**WHY MUST WE DEMAND MORE OF IT?**

Welcome to the new age of Crowning achievements…...enjoy the luxury and privilege that comes with it…..you're set for life and worries are things of the past…...shining bright like gemstones in the pale sunlight, kissed by heaven's angels…...sounds too good to be true.

An insatiable hunger can lead to a gross outcome….better be prepared to face the cold, hard truth…..nothing is what it seems…...do you wish to indulge in the vicious, gluttonous cycle?

**Remaining Students: 22**

* * *

**Next time….Chapter 1: Desire's Ivory Dungeon**

* * *

**A/N: **Hey there guys, sorry for the long wait of the end of the prologue, but here it is. I hope you all enjoyed this little VA special, I had fun making it as well as the Monokuma introduction and apologies for it taking so long.

I've been recently swamped with a lot of online classes and homework, plus there is the case of seasonal depression on top of feeling the overall dread of life. Quarantine made me feel very sickly, but I've been doing well, I've recently gotten into cooking and baking and I'm trying to be more proficient in my writing, however slow the process is.

If you have any questions or alterations you want made to your OC, please let me know ASAP. If you liked the chapter, please feel free to leave a review, comment what you liked and maybe even predict who is gonna bite the bullet next time in Chapter one.

I don't really have much to say other than I hope you guys have a wonderful week, I hope October is better than the last few months have been. Have a great day, night, holiday or whatever it is you are celebrating and I will see you all in the next update or whenever I decide to post next. I love the support you all have given me and happy reading my fellow authors, readers and otaku alike.

Bye bye!


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